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ROBINSON CRUSOE
EXAMIN'D AND CRITICIS'D
/
&
ROBINSON CRUSOE
EXAMIN'D AND CRiriCiS'D
OR A NEW P:DITI0N of CHARLES GILDON's FAMOUS PAMPHLET
NOW PUBLISHED
WITH
AN INTRODUCTION and explanatory NOTES
TOGETHER WITH
an ESSAY ON GILDON'S LIFE
BY
I=a.-ul IDOXTlIsr
LONDON ii PARIS
J. M. DENT & SONS LTD 19?3
Two hundred copies of this book have been printed for sale.
This is n\._ Z-Z-
PRKFACK
Charles Gildon's pamphlet on De Foe, though very popular at the time of its first issue, is now rare, the Bristish Museum copy being the only one easily avail- able. It is so important for a study of the composition and development of Robinson Crusoe, that its publi- cation seems to me indispensable to complete my thesis, Daniel de Foe et ses ro^nans-
My first idea was to reprint the text exactly as in the 17 19 edition, merely adding explanatory notes. But as the only modern biography of Gildon is a very incomplete one in the Dictionary of National Biogra- phy, I found it necessary to make further researches, and was rewarded by the discovery of many hitherto unknown and unpublished manuscript documents con- cerning Gildon, both in the British Museum and the Public Record Office. The result of these researches I have embodied in an Essay on Gildon's life.
The great writers of the Augustan Age have been very little studied, and the minor literati not at all. A life of one of the poor hack-writers of Grub-street is of some interest for the literary history of the period . Gildon's life is representative in this respect. He was, moreover, in relationship with many of the most cele- brated men of his time. The history of his relations with them throws new light on some details in the lives of Addison, Dennis, Pope, and Prior, and enables us to arrive at a true estimate of the famous Addison- Pope quarrel.
4 PREFACE
I have added notes on some obscure passages in Gildon's pamphlet, and on his allusions to De Foe's novel. The references to the text of Robinson Crusoe apply to the most easily available edition of De Foe's works, that published by Hazlittin 1840. I have system- atically refrained from comments on Gildon's style, which is ordinary eighteenth-century English and pre- sents no interesting peculiarities.
I have been much encouraged in my research by the courtesy of the officials in the Public Record Office and the British Museum, and wish formally to express my thanks to them, and also to Miss E. Deane of the University of Liverpool, to Prof. Cazamian and Prof. Guyot of the Sorbonne, for many helpful suggestions.
Paris, Sept. 1922.
Paul DoTTiN.
This book having been printed in France, the number of words divided at the end of the limies is rather unusual.
to my father
E LIF
OF
CHARLES GILDON
I
Gildon's first attempts as s writer
Charles Gildon was born in 1665 in Dorsetshire, at Gillingham, then a small village hidden among the woody hills which skirt the river Stour. The ravages of the Great Plague did not reach this pleasant and healthy country- side, and the boy grew up, sound and sturdy, when in all the chief cities of England the pitiless scourge struck new-born babes, and there was a new massacre of the Innocents.
Gildon was by birth a gentleman, and never failed throughout his life to emphasize the fact (i). His ances- tors were substantial English yeomen, who had remained passionately attached to the Roman Catholic religion. His grand-father, a staunch old Cavalier, by his services to the Royalist Party drew on his head Cromwell's ha- tred, and two thirds of the family estate were confiscated by the Commonwealth. Charles's father, a zealous cham- pion of the cause of the Stuarts, stoically bore persecu-
(i) See his edition of Langbaine's Lives of the English Dramatic Poets, and his letters to Prior (Longleat Mss, III, 507)-
& THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
tion, unswerving in his faith as Papist and Royalist. When the Restoration came, he hoped for an ample re- ward for his lo3'alty : but, like many others, he was forgotten by the Merry Monarch. Reduced thus to com- parative poverty, he was obliged to sell the best part of his estate and retire to Gillinghani, \vhere his son, Char- les, was born.
Of the considerable fortune that had belonged to the family, there was little left. Charles's father, a scholar, « member of the Hon. Society of Gray's Inn » (i), re- solved to give his son a liberal education, to enable him to earn an easy living. Charles was sent at first to school at Gillingham, where he got « the first rudiments of learn- ing under a very honest and learned master, Mr Young, d Rut he was only nine, when his father died. His relations decided that he should enter the priesthood, « which was supposed the best support of a Gentleman whose Fortunes and Relations could promise him no greater advantage ». At fourteen, he v^'as sent to Douai, to the « College des Anglois )), — a college of secular priests reserved for j'oung Englishmen. Here he stayed for 5 years and be- came a very good scholar in Greek and Latin. His mas- ters, finding him zealous in his studies, hoped to make an eminent priest of him ; but « he found his inclinations I>oint him another way » : the Muses had already won his allegiance. In 16S4-5 he was back in England, wait- ing impatiently for his coming of age.
As soon as he was 21, he went to London, resolved to lead the gay fashionable life of his dreams. Scarcely arrived in the « Modern Babylon », he became the friend of young rakes who introduced him to all the pleasures of the Town, so that he was not long in squandering the
(t) The quotations arc taken from Gildon's autobiography in the Appeudix to Langbaine's Lives.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON ;
remainder of the paternal estate. And, (c to crown his other imprudences » (i), he was not yet 23 when, being totally ruined, he married a penniless girl, who bore him several children.
At this time he attended the meetings of wits, where he often read verses of his own making. He was a con- stant frequenter of the salon of the « famous » Mrs Behn, « the divine Astraea », who loved to gather round her all the young libertines of the town. The literary fecimdity of the « incomparable Mrs Behn » was greater than that of Diyden, and was a perpetual subject of wonder to con- temporary writers. Young Gildon was enthusiastic, and later, gave remarkable instances of her extraordinary fluency (2) : « Her Muse was never subject to the curse of bringing forth with Pain : for she always writ with the greatest ease in the world, and that in the midst of company and discourse of other matters. I saw her myself write Oroonoko (3) and keep her turn in discoursing with several present in the room. ))
Gildon was also, like De Foe and Samuel Wesley (4), a member of the « Athenian Society », a literary club found- ed by John Dunton, the eccentric Non-conformist book- seller. Gildon was honoured with the task of waiting the history of the learned society ; the work was published in 1691, and won the approval of Dunton himself, who long continued a business acquaintance with the young historian, now a writer of vogue. Dunton passed this
(i) Gibber, Lives of the Poets, III, 326.
(2) III the Preface to iiis edition of I\Irs Behn's play Tkc younger Brother (1696).
(3) Oroonoko, or the Royal Slave, the famous tale which inspired a very successful tragedj^ of Southerne.
(4) (1662-1735), the father of the great Methodist leader.
8 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
indulgent judgment on him (i) : « Mr GUdou is well acquainted with the languages and writes with a peculiar briskness which the common Hacks can't boast of ; in regard they want the life and spirit, and the same liberty, and extent of genius. He was always very just in the Engagements where I liad any concern, and his perform- ances were done as well as the designs would admit. He writ the History of the Athenian Society which contained the just merits of that Cause. »
As Gildon advanced in age, he became more and more « dissatisfied with the tenets of the Church of Rome, that he had imbib'd with his mother's milk ». But the Catho- lic stamp was so deeply engraved on his mind that, as he tells us himself, a it cost him above 7 years' study and contest before he could entirely shake off all those opin- ions that had grown with him from a Child » (2). He followed closely the religious controversies of the reign of James the Second (1685-8S), and • — a fact which shows his sincerity — abandoned Roman Catholicism at a time when Papists were in great favour at Court. The sermons of Dr. Tillotson, who was later lord Archbishop of Can- terbury, against Tr an substantiation and the Infallibility of the Roman Church, were lent to Gildon by a lawyer « that at he .same time cheated him out of 400 pounds »(3). Gildon pardoned this theft, because the discourses of the Reverend Doctor had brought peace to his soul : he defi- nitely abjured the Roman Catholic Church, which he scornfully called thereafter « the Whore of Babylon » (4).
About this time he becam.e acquainted with a group of
(i) Dunton's Life and Errors, 1705 ed., p. 241. {2) Appendix to Ivanghaine's Lives. (ji Appendix to Lai3gl>aiiie's Lives.
(4) See the Epistle prefixed to The Golden Spy (1709) atid T>e!land's View of the principal deistical writers (1754)-
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 9
young men, who gathered round Charles Blount, a dis- ciple of Hobbes, and an apostle of philosophical reli- gion (i). Tempted by the doctrine of his new friends, and irresistibly drawn by the desire — frequent among young writers — to shock the bourgeois mind, Gildon became one of the pupils and admirers of Blount ; he was soon chosen as the secretary and historiographer of the Deis- tical Club.
Since the loss of his fortune, Gildon earned his living by his pen : he had become a « hack-writer » or « Grub- street author », one of the class which, in order to secure a good sale for their writings, sought noisy successes ob- tained through slander and blackmail, lowered their tal- ent to the coarse tastes of the Vulgar, and, at the bid- ding of unscrupulous booksellers, embittered contempo- rary polemics by hastily-written pamphlets. Among Gil- don's works published in the year 1692 (2), the most characteristic in this respect are : The Post-hoy robb'd of his Mail, an adaptation, composed in great part by him, of some licentious letters of the Italian novelist PaJlavi- cino (3 , — and Nuncius Infernalis, which consists of 2 dialogues, one after the manner of Lucian, the other imitated from Machiavelli's novelle Belfegor Arcidia- volo (4). This second part w^as evidently expected to
(i) He was the chief precursor of Toland. Macaulay, in his History of England (chapter XIX, 1693) judged him with excessive severity.
(2) See : Iviist of Gildom's works.
(3) Ferrante Pallavicino, an Italian novelist and satirical Poet (1615-1644) who wrote the Corriere Svaligiato (1640). He was beheaded at Avignon as a heretic, after a life full of adventures.
(4I A satire against marriage, where the Devil is brought t© admit that Hell itself is prefectable to the compaiiy of a wife.
10 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
ensure the success of the whole book ; it is a good epac- imen of the coarse wit of the time : the Ghosts of Cuckolds of several nations — Merchants, Quakers, Lawyers, Poets, — describe their wrongs, and are finally condemned by Lucifer, Lord of Hell, to be thrown into « the cuckolds' cave, lo.ooo fathoms deeper than the Whoremasters, and next the keeping Cullys, and let each have 2 wives to torment him ». The dialogue ends with these lines, obviously intended for the popular taste, spo- ken by Lucifer :
« For since their Grandame Eve in Eden fell, The Sex has learnt the Damning Trade so well, Where e'er that Rules, there's little need of Hell. »
From his relations with the Deists, Gildon derived some profit by publishing books on their theories which obtained the great success of all works of scandal : per- haps this consideration was not absent from his mind when he gave his adhesion to Blount's doctrines. He prepared in 1693 a Collection of letters written by the chief deists — Bloimt, Richardson, Yaxly, Rogers and himself — to correspondents of high rank ; he gave the Collection a sensational title, The Oracles of Reason. Meanwhile, Blount's suicide (August' 1693) drew general attention to Gildon's little volume. The success of the Oracles of Reason was extraordinary. Many were the divines who, indignant at the temerity of those scomers of revealed religion, retorted in writing (i) : « It is the
(i) A Conference with a Theist, by William NichodLs, D. D. ; 1696, 8 vo, pp. 266. — Mr Blount's Oracles of Reason examin'd and answered, by Josiah King, 1698. — Moral Essays, together with an answer to some chapters in the Oracles of Reasoji concerning deism, by J. Lowde, 1699. — A Discourse concerning the being and Attributes of God, in answer to the author of the Oracles of Reason, by S. Clarke. D. D. 1716 (5 til «!. in 1719).
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 1 1
first book I ever saw which did openly avow infideUty ! » exclaimed William Nicholls : and he added, with feigned disdain : « This book is chiefly made up of a few letters wrote between some Sparks at London and some Trans- lations made out of one or two Greek and Latin books. » This religious controversy was still going on in 1719 !
Gildon had sufficient business sense to grasp imme- diately that he had found a rich vein which should be worked without loss of time. In 1695 he collected in one volume Blount's works, to which he prefixed the biog- raphy of the famous ^Deist ; commenting on Blount's death, he 'made an extravagant apology of suicide, and in the heat of enthusiasm announced his resolution of ending his days in the same manner. Perhaps he was sincere and dreamt of martyrdom in a Cause that seemed holy to him. The Miscellaneous Works had not as great a success as the Oracles oj Reason, but they were notwith- standing much discussed, and thus added somewhat to the editor's reputation.
Gildon was chosen by several booksellers as the editor of many compilations. He published with pious care the posthumous works of Mrs Behn. In a volume of Miscella- neous Letters and Essays he included an original Apology for Poetry which he dedicated to Walter Moyle (i), one of the wits of Will's coffee-house and a wealthy man. He also published Miscellanies of poems and maxims ; one of those collections, which appeared in 1692, Miscel- lany Poems upon several Occasions, contains some of his own work : two light pieces entitled To Sylvia, and a mediocre imitation of the beginning of the first satire of Persius. In the volume of 1694 — Chorus Poetarum — is included another of his poems : To my friend Mr
(i) (1672-1721) : Politician and student : a great friend of Congreve's and Denr^is's.
12 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
Charles hlopkins. on reading his translations out of Ovid and Tibullus.
Thanks to his excellent education, Gildon had a com- petent knowledge of classical authors. This was univer- sally recognised in his time : David Crawford, who be- came historiographer of Scotland, chose him to edit his Imitations of Ovid (ij, aiid to write the dedication of the book to Lord Boyle. By such work Gildon was able to make a tolerable living. We know that Lintot, the enter- prising bookseller who employed him as editor of the Exatnen Miscellaneum , a collection of modern verse, translations from Anacreon and maxims from Greek writers, paid him 5 1. 7 s. 6 d. on the 15 th of November 1702 (2). But the money obtained from booksellers was not the chief resource of our author : like all the writers of his time, distinguished and obscure, be dedicated his books to rich patrons who rewarded the poor writer's outrageous panegyric of their virtue and generosity with ringing gold coins. In order to be introduced to wealthy benefactors, he tried to become the friend of Tom D'Ur- fey (3), then at the pinnacle of fame : he addressed to him a long and learned letter, full of allusions to the ancient dramatists, in praise of his comedy The Marriage Hater match'd, which had been bitterly attacked by envious writers ; and D'Urfey, when he published the comedy (1692), inserted this letter as a preface. In return he wrote the preface to Gildon's first work of imagination Nuncius Infernalis, and undertook to introduce the young
(i) Ovidins Britannicus (1703) (See List of Gildon's Works).
(2) Nichols. Literary Anecdotes of the 18 th Century, 1812 ed,., Vin, 293. Pope iieceived onily 7 1. lor the first ed. of the Rape of the Lock.
(3) (^653-1723), poet and dramatist. He was the aiephew of Honore d'TJrf^, author of the romance of L^Astrie.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON I 3
writer to the literary world : « the modesty of my friend being such, that he would not venture into the world alone. »
A few years later, Gildon succeeded at last in making the acquaintance of patrons of rank. The descendants of the Earl of Rochester chose him as co-editor with Tom Brown (i) of the Familiar Letters, written by their an- cestor the famous libertine (1697). The Earl of Dorset allowed him to publish several of his original poems (2). About 1 701, Gildon was entrusted by the Duke of Buck- inghamshire (3) with his Essay on Poetry, which had won the praise of Dry den. Gildon published it in Examen Miscellaneum and soon after began, under the Duke's direction, a learned commentary on the Essay ; but the commentary, through circumstances independent of Gil- don's vvill, was published only after the Duke's death, in 1721.
II Gildon's career as a playwright
Such liigh patronage, though profitable, brought little compared to the riches Gildon hoped to accumulate through his plays : for he had soon turned to the drama, then the only kind of literary w^ork that yielded impor- tant profits. Already in 1694 he had been involved in a controversy concerning the English Stage. A minor critic named Rymer (4) in a pamphlet entitled : A short
(i) (1663-1704). A iniscellaiieous writer, known chiefly for his violent quarrel with D'Urfey in 1699.
(2) In A Nczu Miscellany of Original Poems (1701).
(3) The Duke bore only at that time the title of Marquis of Nortnanby (see the Preface to the Laws of Poetry; 1721).
(4) (1641-1713), known chitefly as the editor of Foedera.
14 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
%-ieui of Tragedy .- its original Excellency and Corrup- tion : '.cilh some Reflections on Shakespeare and other Practitioners for the Stage (1692) pretended to scorn the Shakespearean Art and called Othello a a bloody farce without salt or savour ». Gildon defended Shakespeare, claiming that he was a great dramatist (i) ; he did not, hoavever, admire him unreservedly, for he was ever very severe in his judgment of others, and declared that Shakespeare was not classical enough. It is curious to remark what he singles out for praise : « Of all Shake- speare's characters », he wrote (2), « I like his clown best : he always speaks Truth, therefore I am pleased with his freedom ; he shuns ajl Comx>laisance, therefore I doat on him for his rusticity. Methinks it comes nearest to Nature and Honesty : our Reason was given us to judge of Things, and our Tongues to declare that Judg- ment ». He agreed with Rymer that Othello was not a good play, because one dramatist cannot succeed in paint- ing different passions {3) : « Shakespeare that drew Othello so finely has made but a scurvy piece of Desde- mona. » Shakespeare never was Gildon's model : Lee (4) and Otway (5) appealed more to his taste.
Gildon began his dramatic career very prudently. Mrs
(i) He wrote Reflections on Mr Rymer's Sh-ort View, m an Essay dedicated to Dryden and iniserted in hLs Miscel- laneous Letters (1694) (pp. 64 to 118). As M. Huchon rightly i^urmise.s (See Mrs Montague and her friends, p. 93 n.) it is undoubtedly by Gildon.
(2) A covtparison between the 2 Stages (I>rury I.ane, and Iyiincoln'5 Intn Fields) : Pref.
(3) Love's Victim : Pref.
(4) (1653-1692) : lie followed Dryden's method in hi.s most .succe.ssfu! tragedy, the Rival Queens (1677).
(5) (1652-1685) : two of his tragedies, the Orphan, and Venice Preserved, still keep the stage.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 1 5
Behn had left him the manuscript of a comedy, the Younger Brother^ or the Amorous Jilt, which she had written hastily in the presence of her admirers. In 1696, through Gildon's efforts, it was played at the Royal Theatre ; Gildon suppressed many tedious passages and carefully altered a few political reflections, but, in spite of these changes, the play was a failure. Gildon hastened to explain (i) : « Out of respect to her Memory and a deference which was too nice to her Judgment, he [Gil- don] durst not make any alterations in it, but what were absolutely necessary, and then only in the first and second acts which reflected on the Whigs — when, if he had alter'd the jejune style of the 3 last acts betwixt Prince Frederick and Mirtilla, which was too heavy, in all probability it would have been more to the Advantage of his Purse ». To obtain some reward for his work, he published the comedy in its entirety, v;ith a short biog- raphy, very agreeably and briskly written, of the famous authoress (2). The edition was quickly sold, as the name of the « incomparable Mrs Behn » on the title- page of a book was always a sufficient passport to success. In the following year, Gildon having increased confi- dence in his ov;n talents, produced in the same theatre his first tragedy the Roman Bride's Revenge. He explained its failure by its hurried composition (3) : « The Roman Bride's Revenge was writ in one month, so it had the fate of those untimely births : as hasty a Death. » It was a mediocre classical tragedy, in which
(i) and {3) See his autobiography (appendix to Langbaine's Lives) and Genest's History of the English Stage, II, 112.
(2) He dedicated the book to a friend of Creech and Dennis, Colonel Codrinigiton (1668-17 10) wlio, by this time, had ac- quiired the reputati,on of a wit and a scholar.
l6 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GiLDON
Gildon tried, without success, to imitate the style of « tlery I^ce » (i). Though admitting defects in his play, he was proud both of its complex plot, which was en- tirely of his own invention except for a hint taken from Camma of Galaia (2), — and of the bloody catastrophe which Lee would have much approval : « the Moral is one of the most noble of any of our Modern Plays, it being to give us an example in the Punishment of Mar- tian that no consideration in the World ought to make us delay the service of our country ». (3)
In 169S, Gildon obtained a creditable success Vv'ith Phaeton, or the Fatal Divorce, a traged}^, which ran sev- eral nights at the Royal Theatre. The plot was taken from a French opera of the same title by Quinault, but Gildon modified Quinault's conception after a close study of Euripides' dramatic style in Medea, and blended the character of Phaeton in a strange manner Vv'ith that of Jason (4). Proud of the success, which he certainly de- served, Gildon published the tragedy, dedicating it to the Right Honourable Charles ]\Iontague, Chancellor of the Exchequer. He added a refutation of Collier's famous pamphlet A Short Vieiv of the Immorality and Profane- •ness of the English Stage.
Eager to retain l)is new popularity, Gildon turned Measure for Measure into an opera ; the historian Old-
(i) This expression is borrowed from Denniis's preface to (Mldon's tragedy Tlie Patriot (1703).
(2) Camma, reine de Calatie, a tragedy by Thomas Cor- r^ille, first played at the Hotel de Boi:,rgogne on Ja». 28 th, 1661. Published in tlie <ame year.
(.3) See the Appendix to Langbaine's Lives.
(4) vSee a favourable judgment of this tragedy in Genest's History II, 138.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 1/
mixon (i) wrote a prologue and an epilogue (2), the fa- mous actor Betterton took the part of Angelo, and the composer Purcell (3) wrote the music. Gildon simplified Shakespeare's plot and introduced masques and musical entertainments at the end of every act : dances of wizards and witches, or of tritons and nereids, disfigure Shake- speare's poignant drama. In this Gildon was onl}^ follow- ing the example of D'Avenaiit (4), who had already, in 1662, altered the play to suit contemporary taste, giving it the title of Laiv against Lovers. Gildon's opera, which had a fair success, was played at Lincoln's Inn Fields, which had just been opened by Betterton. (5)
But it w^as in 1701 that Gildon obtained his only real theatrical triumph with his tragedy Love's Victim, or the Queen of Wales (6), also produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields. Gildon's model for the dramatic structure was Otway, whose panegyric he wrote in the preface to the play ; he had obeyed Betterton 's suggestions, and com- bined the rigid classical traged}^ with operatic elements such as processions of druids on the stage, magnificent scenery, and the frequent use of thunderstorms. This tragedy brought Gildon v.hat he most desired, financial
(i) John OMmixon (1673-1742) began his liiterary career as a j>oet, and in 1700 produced at Drury Lane an opera The Grove, wjth an 11 sic by D. Purcell. v.
(2) vSuppo=ed to be apokcn by Shakespeare's Chast. {3) Not Hency Purcell, but his less famous brother Daniel (1660-1717).
(4) (1606-166S), the weill-kniown dramatist wh.o mangled many of Shakespeare's plays.
{5) Strange!)' enough, this opera was advertised in the edition of Gildon 'i; tragedy Love's Victim as Measure for Measure, a comedy alter'd from Beanniont and Fletcher, by Mr Gil den.
(6) vSee an analysis of the play in Genest's History, II, 246.
1 8 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
success, and also the protection of Lord Halifax to whom it was dedicated.
In 1702, Gildon wrote an adaptation of Lee's Junius Brutus, which had been forbidden b}' the Lord Chamber- lain as being an a antimonarchical play » (i), after it had run for three nights (16S1). Gildon transported the scene from Rome to Florence, and made Cosmo di ]Medici the hero instead of Brutus : for the Master of the Revels had refused to license his first adaptation of the play, in which he had merely suppressed « all reflections on Mo- narchy » (2). Under its new title The Patriot, or the Italian Conspiracy, Gildon's tragedy — with the addition of songs composed by Daniel Purcell (3) — was relatively successful. The Prologue was written by John Dennis (4), with whom Gildon was to entertain close relations for the rest of his life ; the Epilogue, by the famous Far- quhar (5). Encouraged by these renowned patrons, Gil- don, when he published his play in 1703, boldly dedi- cated it to the Queen ; the Duke of Leeds presented it to Her jNIajesty, at the same time asking her to reward the author. The Queen immediately wTote to her tyrannical counsellor, the Duchess of Marlborough, keeper of the Privy Purse « to ask her how much would be proper ». (6)
(i) Some lines on the effeminacy and immorali.ty of Tarqaiin had been iaiterpreted as a reflecftiooi on Charles the Secomd.
(2) See the Preface to the tragedy, and Genest's History, II, 276.
(3) This day is published a set of airs in 4 parts, perform'd in the tragedy call'd The Italian Conspiracy, written by Mr Dan. Purcell. i s. 6 d. (Advertisement in the papers for Dec. I St, 170c).
(4) John Denais (1657-1734), Pope's victim and bitterest enemy.
(5) fieorge Farquhar (167S-1707), the famous actor and pla>-wright.
(6) Hist. Mss. Comm. S th Report, p. 51.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 19
We do not know how much Gildon received from his Sovereign, but it is not likely that the rapacious Duchess was, contrary to her habits, generously inclined towards an obscure playwright.
During the last years of William the Third's reign, Gildon's reputation as a dramatic critic was firmly estab- lished. The booksellers Thomas Leigh and William Turner commissioned him to re-write and complete the biographical dictionary published in 1691 1>y Lang- baine (i) under t)ie followiing title : The Lives and Char- acters of the English Dramatic Poets. He was also chosen by the enemies of Bevil Higgons (2), a poor Jacobite writer, to ridicule his tragedy, the Generous Conqueror ^ to merciless criticism of the play, Gildon added general ideas concerning the English stage : he extolled Shake- speare and Jonson, attacked Dryden for lack of originality, and reproached Steele for not being sufficiently classical.
About this time, Gildon was the intimate of most of the great living authors, and of renowned actors and actres- ses : Mrs Bracegirdle (3), Mrs Porter (4), and Betterton (5),
(i) Gerard Laugbaine, the Younger (1656-1692), known chiefly as a dramatic biographer.
(2) Higgons (1670-1735) was acou^ed, when he published liis triagiedy, of having triied to defend the Divine Right and Iiriipeecability of James the Second. Gildon's book against him is entitled : A Comparison between the 2 Stages (1702).
(3) Anne Braoegirdle's (1663-174S) appearance in Gildon's Love's Victiyn (1701) was one cA .her greatest triumphs, and Gildon thanked her in the Preface to his tragedy. This did not prevent him, a few months afterwards, from giving the following opinion of her virtue : « I believe no more on it than I believe of John Mandevil ». {A Comparison, etc. p. 18).
(4) In Gildon's tragedy, Love's Victim, she played the part of T3-relius, a boy of 12, and spoke the Epilogue. She dijed in 1765.
(5) Gildon's Li(c of Better'on is rather a dissertation on
20 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
who played the chief part in all his plays, and whose biography he wrote a few weeks after the great actor's death in 1710. It is very likely, too, that he himself played secondary' parts in his tragedies, according to a frequent custom at the time (i). He probably was an indifferent player. He certainly was an indifferent dramatist, though at least honest in indicating his models and sources, and he does not perhaps deserve Young's severe satire of his talent in the Love of Fame : (2)
« (Hence) Gildon rails, that raven ot the pit Who thrives upon the carcases of wit ».
Gildon's relations with actresses did not help to improve the detestable reputation he had acquired from his con- nections vvith the Deists. He led, in fact, a very dissolute life. De Foe, always self-indulgent but hard upon others, branded Gildon's vices in doggerel lines, in a poem en- titled More Reformation {Jvdy 1703) :
(( G v.-rites Satyr, rails at Blasphemy,
And the next Page, lampoons the Deity ;
Exposes his Darinda's Vicious Life,
But keqjs six whores and starves his modest wife ;
Sets up for a reformer of the town.
Himself a first Rate Rake beloav Lampoon...
All men to errors and mistakes enclin'd.
To sin 's a vice in Nature, and we find
drama and the dramatic art : to it was added a cotniedy by Ik-itterton The Amorous Widow (imitated from Moliere) which had ibeen snccesfifully acted on the 10 th of Januar}- 1673. jSeie Times L. S. for Sept. 14 th, 1922 : p. 584).
(i) Waller. Universal Biography.
(2) This is Edward Young (16S3-1765), the author of the Nights. The quotation is taken from the seveoiith satire of the Love of Fame.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 21
And Reprehension 's not at all uncivil,
But to have Rakes reprove us, that's the Devil ! «
Evidently, in these outspoken lines, De Foe is merely- exaggerating stories that were commonly reported of Gildon's life ; his cynical behaviour and youthful bluster contributed certainly to give credence to those rumours. But the attacks against his private conduct became so violent, that he felt bound to protest, though at the same time he admitted his incredulity in matters of religion. In the preface to Chorus Poetarum he wrote, in answer to slanders spread by his adversaries : « I confess I was sensibly touch'd with the Scandalous Judgment those Gentlemen made of my morals, which I do without Arrogance pretend to be as orthodox as any Man's, how Heterodox soever my other opinions may be thought by some )). But the mere fact that he proclaimed himself a deist was sufficient to make good souls reckon him among the worst rakes, and it undoubtedly injured him finan- cially, as it turned away the patronage of rich and in- fluential lords. As he advanced in age, his youthful en- thusiasm for doctrines which seemed revolutionary and subversive to most Englishmen gave way to his practical sense. Little by little he turned to the Established Church, and allowed himself to be converted by Charles Leslie's (i) poor arguments in favour of Christianity, contained in a long pamphlet with this cumbrous title : A Short and Easy Method with the Deists, wherein the truth of the Christian Religion is demonstrated by such rules as stand upon the conviction of our outward Senses,
(i) (1650-1722). Nocr juror and controversialist, known for his quarrels with the Qual^ers and the chief Whig journalists of the time, Tutchin and De Fioe, in ofypasition to whom he started a paper entitled The Rehearsal. The first edition of his Short and Easy Method was issued in 169S.
22 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
and 7t'hich are incompatible -jcith the Fabulous Histories of the Heathen Deities, the Delusions of Mahomet, or any other Imposture whatsoever.
Resolved to reap the utmost benefit from his conver- sion, Gilclon proclaimed it widely. In July 1704, Leslie addressed to him a long gratulatory letter, and the new proselyte wrote a treatise, the Deist's Manual, in which he abjured all his former errors. He dedicated this pro- duction to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Thus back in the ranks of loyal English Protestants, Gildon easily found lucrative work. The Whigs and To- ries, at this time, were waging a terrible newspaper war, and each w^as eager to enrol new pamphleteers in his service. Gildon had no fixed political opinions, and let it be known that he was ready to offer his talent to whatever party felt inclined to reward his labours.
Ill Gildon as pamphleteer
Gildon's first political pamphlet showed him that he was treading dangerous ground. The High-Tory leaders were at this time greatly incensed against the Queen for having raised a Whig ministry to power. They knew her secret attachment to her exiled brother, the Pretender, and resolved to take their revenge by balking her hopes. On the 15 th of November 1705, they brought forward in Parliament a proposal that Anne should invite to England the Heir Presumptive to the throne, the Elect- ress Sophia. Thus they affronted the Queen publicly, and at the same time threw confusion into the ranks of the Whigs, who were greatly alanned by this suspicious zeal for the Protestant Succession. The Tories hoped that
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 23
by this move they would cause a quarrel between the reigning Queen and the Queen to be — the touchy and dominating character of the latter was well known — and that they might take advantage of the trouble that would ensue to return to power themselves (i). Their plan failed, but they had the good fortune to lay their hands on two very important letters. One, dated Nov. 3 rd, 1705, had been sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury by Prin- -cess Sophia, and seemed to intimate her wish to visit England, so as to be ready in case of Anne's sudden death. The other had been sent on Jan. 12 th, 1706, to the Earl of Stanford t»y Sir Rowland Gwynne, an Eng- lish Gentleman at the Court of Hanover : Gwynne showed that in order to baffle the endeavours of the Jaco- bites, it was necessary that the Electress should come to England, and he expressed plainly a suspicion of the loyalty of the Queen and her Ministers towards the Prot- estant Succession. Both letters were given by a Tory leader to poor Gildon, who saw how much money their publication would bring in. Not suspecting that he was being used as a tool by the Tories in their war against the Queen, he published the letters, and added a review of those sensational documents, in which he dwelt at leng^ on the advantages that would ensue from Sophia's visit. Urged perhaps by the Tories, he even dedicated his pam- phlet, with a touching ingenuity, to the Queen. The result soon appeared. His work was censured by both Houses and declared « a seditious libel, tending to create a mis- understanding between Her Majesty and the Princess Sophia ». The author of the libel was easily discovered ; Gildon indeed did not seek concealment. On June 8 th,
(1) Iti the old Histoire d'Angleterre by Ratpin-Thoyras \1749) these curious negociations are very clearly explained. (vol. XII, p. 170, etc).
24 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
1706, the Secretary of State, Robert Harley, issued a warrant thus worded : « Charles Gildon to be apprehended for being concem'd in pubhshing a seditious libel ». (1) On the 14 til, Harley issued a second warrant to the keeper of Newgate, ordering him to receive the culprit, who had been examined and confessed his guilt. Without further delay, Harley lannounced Gildon's arrest to the English Ambassador in Hanover, Mr Howe : « I do not know what Sir Rov^'land Gwin does at Hamburg », he wrote (2), « but one Charles Gildon who has printed a book to justify vSir Rowland Gwyn's letter, and impudently dedicated it to the Queen is committed to Newgate. He was the person who reprinted Sir Rov^^land Gwyn's letter: he takes the writing of the book upon himself, but it may be he will be obliged to produce the true author or au- thors ere long, n
The hope expressed by the astute minister, who sought to reach his political enemies in this way, was never realised : Gildon did not inform against any one, perhaps because he did not know whom to denounce or because he feared revenge. On the 18 th of June, he wrote to Harley's secretary, Erasmus Lewis (3), a desiring to know whether he would be pleased to take his bail, as Mr Ste- phen had satisfied Mr Borrett (4). having two very sub- stantial m.en, one with five or six thousand pounds ; the other, besides his trade in the bookselling, has a place of 50 1. a year for his life » (5). This offer was accept«d, and Gildon did not remain long
(i) Public Record Office, S. P. dom. Anne. Eatry book 77.
(2) Letter dated 18/29 June 1706 (P. R. O. — 5. P. foreign. Hanover, entry book).
(3) (1670-1754), a friend of Swift and Pope. {4) Soliciitor to the Treasury.
(5) 7/15/. Mss. Comm. — Mss of the Duke of Portland, VIIJ, 232.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 25
^ Circled in Newgate's cold embrace » (1).
He was tried on the 12 th of February 1707 at the Guild- hall, and found guilty (2), Sentence was deferred till the follovv'ing term. Terrified by the mere idea of the pillory and prison, Gildon sought a protector everywhere : he applied to Richard Steele, who had just been appointed gazetteer, on the recommendation of Arthur Mainwar- ing {3). Honest, kind-hearted Dick Steele was always ready to help a brother-writer in distress. He wrote to the Queen, on behalf of Gildon, a petition for a Noli Prose- qui, the first draught of which, in his own hand, has been preserved in his papers (4) : « To the Queen's most Excel- lent Majesty. The humble Petition of Charles Gildon sheweth. That y"" Petitioner has by an unhappy mistake and not out of any malicious design against the Happi- ness and Quiet of y' Majesty's Government been concern'd in publishing a pamphlet call'd S' R. Gwinn's letter etc. That y' Pef has had a liberal education and fortune and expects this Term a sentence worse than Death for the same. That he is under the greatest sorrow and contrition for this His high offense against so good and gracious a Queen, and shall hereafter abhor and avoid all license in speech and writing unbefitting a quiet, humble, and Pea- ceable subject. V" P*' therefore most humbly Prays, etc. » Harley received this petition on the 2 nd of May ; he read it on the 4 th, and wrote a short note on the paper : « He
(i) De Foe, Elegy on the Author of the True-born Eng- lishman.
(2) Post hoy, Feb. 13 th, 1707.
{■^^ (1668-1712). M. P., auditor of inquests, member of the Kit-Kat Club, one of the heads of the "Whig Party.
(4) British Museum. Add. Mss. 5145. This document has been pointed out by Aitken, Life of Steele, I, 152.
26 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
to apply again after sentence » (i). At last, on the 17 th, Gildon appeared before the Bench. The judge soon gath- ered that he had been merely a tool, ignorant of the grave significance of his act. Gildon escaped imprisonment, but was condemned to a fine of 100 1., a large sum for a poor hack-writer. Qn the 27 th of November, we find him send- ing a new petition to Harley, to be relieved from his fine (2), and we may believe that this request was granted, since it was presented by Mainwaring, who was very powerful with the ministers.
Gildon had learnt from his misfortunes the danger of meddling with politics ; henceforv/ard he behaved like « a quiet and peaceable subject », and paid court to men in office. He cherished the hope of being appointed, like De Foe, to some minor official post. In July 1708, he wrote a poem in praise of Marlborough's victory at Oudenarde, and to obtain pardon for his past offence, dedicated it to the Electoral Prince of Hanover, afterwards George the First. He kept up more studiously than ever his acquaint- ances with n^en of renown, both in the literary and polit- ical world. He frequently visited « ancient Mr Wycher- ley )), who was still held in reverence by the wits ; in one of these visits he met the youthful Pope, whom he de- scribed later as a « little Aesopic sort of an Animal », — which, naturally enough, incensed the touchy poet (3). He remained on good terms with Steele to whom, in gnat- itude for his kindness, he dedicated his Life of Betterton : (( The following piece was scarce yet an Embryo », he wrote, « when I designed its full growth for your Protec- tion. ;) In return, Steele, under his favourite pseudonym
(i) Mss. of the Duke of Portland, VIII, 349. (2) A/55, of the Duke of Portland, VIII, 353. ^3) In t])c Life of William Wycherlcy : the quarrel between Fope and Gildon makes the subject of my 4 th chapter.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 2/
of Isaac Bickerstaff (i), wrote the fol]o^^'ing humorous preface for a Grammar of the English Tongue, whi h Gildon began, in 1710, at the request of a bookseller named Brightland : « The following treatise being submit- ted to my censure, that I may pass it with Integrity, I must declare that as Grammar in general is on all hands al- low'd the Foundation of all Arts and Sciences, so it ap- pears to me that this Grammar of the English Tongue has done that justice to our language which till now it never obtained. The Text will improve the most ignorant, and the notes will employ the more learned. I therefore en- join all my female Correspondents to buy, read and study this Grammar, that their letters may be something less enigmatic ; and on all my male Correspondents likewise, who make no conscience of false-spelling and False- English, I lay the same Injunction, on pain of having their epistles expos' d in their own proper dress, in my Lucubrations. — LB. censor. » Gildon hoped much from the success of this grammar, which was dedicated « To the Queen's most excellent Majesty ». He contributed also to a translation of Lucian's works, and wrote a Latin Grammar (2). He thought these academic treatises likely to recommend him to the great minister Harley, who had returned to power after a short eclipse. There are extant two letters of Gildon to the famous statesman (3) (1711)-
'i) It was under this pseudonym that Steele wrote for the Tatler (1709). The name Isaac Bickerstaff had already been assumed by Swift when he attacked John Partridge the almanac-maker (1707J, and it was, later cxn, taken by De Foe when he wrote his mock-prophecies, the British Visions (1711).
{2) This is evidently Cases in Latin, 3 copies of which Gildon sent to Addison in Feb. 171Q (B. M. Mss. E. G. 1971).
(3) 13. M. Add. Mss. 4163.
28 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
He began by declaring that « he knew Harley's own excellent parts, and the character he had of a Favourer of Men of letters and his generosity to such », then went on to explain a series of projects which, he said, would ena- ble Harley to earn an eternal reputation as a « Great Pro- tector of Arts and Sciences ». The first of Gildon's projects was for the promotion of virtue and morality : « Some ingenious person was to compose a Speech with all the flowers of Oratory and Rhetoric, and then he himself, if duly qualified, or another person indued with all the Graces and advantages of speaking was to pronounce it in a house to be built for that purpose in the centre of Lincoln's Inn Sqi. -e » (i). Gildon obviously repented the license of his theai.. ^1 career, since this project tended to create opposition against the stage, by means of moralizing lec- tures destined to « advance the polite Sciences. » An other proposal of Gildon was for the founding of an Eng- lish Academy on the same lines as the French : the idea was "by no means novel. Roscommon had already brought it forward (2), then De Foe in his Essay upon Projects (1697) and Prior in his Carmen Secular e {1700) ; and a few months after Gildon, Swift made exactly the same pro- posal iji his Letter to the Earl of Oxford (Harley). Gil- don's last project was intended by him to prejudice in his
(i) This project was .not fully explained in Gildon's first letter to Harlej', but we know in what it consisted from a passage of A Reinforcement of the Reasons proving that the Stage is an Antichristian Diversion (Oct. 1733, p. 31), by tihe Rev. George Anderson, who was a friend of Gildon's, and probably iin£uenced his sudden dislike for tlie stage.
(2) Dillon Wantworth, Ba-rl of Roscommon had attempted the formation of a literary Acadjemy in imitation of that at Caen., im which town he had lived, dv.ic'mg the Commoraweakh. He WHS a clai^sical poet (1633-85) and, accordtimg to Pope, the only moral writer of the reign of the Merry Monarch.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
favour Barley, who was a specialist in economic ques- tions. To induce the great statesman to grant him an au- dience, Gildon declared himself ready to lay before him « a method of Improving Pier Majesty's Revenue 50.006 or 60.0C0 1. per an. without injury to any one » ; he does not give any more details of this marvellous project. He sent with his letters copies of his books, at least of those he thought likely to interest Harley, for example, his Grammar, for which he shamelessly claimed a reward in cash : cc I have yet had no benefit of any consequence from the great pains and labour I have been at in this work but the hopes of a public service, and wish that my circumstances did not compel me to seek any other. But since those are so narrow I hope from our true Patriots another Rev^'ard more agreeable to the necessity of my affairs » : and he v^^ent on to insinuate that among those patriots, Robert Harley, Chancellor of the Exchequer, was the most likely to be generous.
At the same time, in order to obtani support for his demands, Gildon sent som.e of his books to Edward Har- ley, brother of the Minister, « to divert a leisure hour )) (i). He tried to interest him also in his proposals, which, he repeated, were designed <( to advance the polite Arts to a greater perfection than they have yet known in these nations. )> This clever campaign probably did not fulfil the extravagant hopes entertained by Gildon, who was far from being modest. It is very likely, however, that he received some money, for at the end of his life we find him, poorer and more beggarly than ever, sending ne-vv petitions to the Harley family, through the medium of their great friend Prior.
During the reign of Queen Anne, a poor hack-writer like Gildon vvas at the mercy of rapacious booksellers,
(i) B. M. Add. Mss. 4163.
30 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
who compelled him to lead a life of drudgery and semi- starvatiou, so that he had little time for original work. In 170Q, Gildon was the chief contributor to two collections of anecdotes entitled the Golden Spy, dedicated to Swift : these were stories tending to show the corruptive power of gold in European Courts, and telling with many details the « scandalous amours » of Fouquet, Mme de Montpen- sier, and other worthies of the Court of Versailles. In 1710 Gildon came under the tyranny of Curll, a bookseller fa- mous for his piracies and his obscene publications, who was justly vilified by De Foe in a well-known paper (i) : « he is odious in his person, scandalous in his Fame, he is mark'd b}-- Nature, for he has a bawdy Countenance, and a debauched Mien, his Tongue is an Echo of all the beastly Language his Shop is fill'd with, and Filthiness drivels in the \ cry Tone of his Voice. » Curll hired poor, starving C^ildon to tadd to Rowc's six-vokune edition of Shakespeare (2) a piratical seventh volume, containing Shakespeare's Poems. Gildon was very sucessful in this task (3). He wrote an essay on the drama in Aiicient Lit- erature and in England, !Compiled a Glossary of archaic words in Shakespeare, and added summaries of the plays. The book, which was dedicated to the Earl of Peterbor- ough, would be far from contemptible, if Shakespeare's Sonnets were not lost amid a flood of inferior poetry by other authors.
(i) Against the Sin of Curlicism, in Mist's Journal for April 5 th, 1719. — Curll (1675-1747) replied in a pamphlet entitled Curlicism Displayed. He was attacked m the Dun- ciad.
(2) Rowe (1674-1718) wa.s poet-laureate. His imtimacy with Pope had exposed him to Curll's hatred. His edition of Shakespeare was reiissiued in 1714 iu 8 vols., wheai* Curl! agai.n i.-suetl Gildon 's work as a g th vol.
(3) Notes and Queries. 2 nd s. XH, 349.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 3 f
Gilclon seems to have been one of the miserable hacks regularly employed by Curll. He lived in a garret in Chan- cery Lane, and his nightly drudgery by candle-light be- gan to affect his eyesight. His letters to Harley (1711) show that already he could scarcely see what he wrote. Gradually his sight grew worse, and by the end of the year 1718 he was blind.
It was at the precise moment when, to the anguish of the struggle for his daily bread, was added the terror of being less and less able to see the paper he was obliged to cover with hurried lines all day long and a great part of the night, that he found himself launched into a quar- rel with the most formidable antagonist of the time, Alexander Pope. He v,ias one of the « distinguished Frogs of Helicon », that tried in vain to devour the dread « Wasp of Twickenham » (i).
IV Gildons quarrel with Pope, and last days
Gildon's first attack against Pope was made in 17 14 : perhaps it was due not merely to natural antipathy, but to the fact that any book written against Pope was sure of a prompt answer, and hence of a good sale, since the public was always interested in literary polemics. In the New Rehearsal (2) — a very dull comed\' — Gildon bitterly
(i) These curious expressions are taken from the Daily Journal (A]>ril and May 1728), which had begun a violent quarrel with Pope.
(2) The epigraph of this pamphlet is sigaiificaoit in itself :
« Why is he honour'd with a Poet's Name, Who neither knows nor would observe a rule ? »
(Roscommon).
32 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
criticised the plays of Rowl', Pope's great friend, whom he described under the name of Bays the Younger in these insulting terms : (( A Pedantic Reciting Poet, admired by the Mob and himself, but justly contemn'd by Men of Sense and Learning, and a despiser of Rules and Art. » Pope was introduced in the same work as « Sawney (i) Dapper, a young Poet of the Modern Stamp, an easy ver- sifier, conceited, and a contemner secretly of all others. » To enrage Pope further, Gildon added scurrilous abuse of the Rape cf the Lock. Pope was very touchy on this special point, i-.s ti:e poem was his most cherished work : De Foe bed incurred his rage, and earned a niche in the Dunciad ir^erely liccause he had ventured on a few slight taunts about sylphs and gnomes (2 So we may well im- agine Pope's fury at seeing himself and his friend thus insulted by a low hack-writer.
Gildon renewed his attack a few years later. He had become the faithful jackal of the bilious critic John Den- nis, who probabh' aided him to find work with the book- sellers. Dennis certainly collaborated with him in one of his most discreditable productions, A true character of Mr Pope, published by Curll in 1716 (3j. But the worst was yet to come. On the 3 rd of May, 171S, the Evening Post announced the publication of the Life of \Villia7n Wycherley, Esq (4) ; by Charles Gildon Gent., ivith a
(i) Savaiey is a corruption of Sandy, the vScottish abbre- \'ia't:o'ii of Alexander.
(2) In- A System of Magic (1726). Already in The Life of Mr Dv-rican Campbell (1720), De Foe published verses by a certain Mr Stanhope, intended to riddciile Pope's poem.
(3) 'v. the first edition of his Key io the Dunciad, Curl] decla'-ed that Gildon was the author of the book. This deola- ratior was omitted in subsequent editions, and im the Curl- iad, Dennis was named as the writer.
(4^ \V-'cherlev had died on the i st of Jan. 1776. On the title-
Via
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON ■ 33
character of Mr Wycherley and his writings by the Lord Landsdown. To ivhich are added some familiar Letters ivritien by Mr Wycherley and a true copy of his last Will and Testament. Trice i 5. Trinted for E. Curll (i). The following paragraph in the book was calculated to incense Pope to the highest degree : Gildon recounts a meeting with Pope in Wycherley's chambers, and speaks scorn- fully of Pope's a rustick parent » about the time of the sudden death of the latter : « I remember I was once to wait on Mr Wycherley and found in his Chamber this little Aesopic sort of an Animal in his own cropt Hair, and Dress agreeable to the 'Forest he came from. I con- fess the Gentleman was very silent all my stay there, and scarce utter'd three Words on any Subject we talk'd of, nor cou'd I guess at wdiat sort of Creature he was, and shou'd indeed have guess'd all the Pretenses of Man- kind round before I shou'd have imagined him a Wit and Poet. I thought indeed he might be some Tenant's Son of his, who might make his Court for continuance in his Lease on the Death of his Rustick Parent, but was suffi- ciently surpris 'd when ]Mr Wycherley afterwards told me he was Poetically inclin'd and wrote tolerably smooth Ver- ses... » Gildon continues in this abusive tone for five whole pages.
This was the book to which Pope referred, when, in
page of the book, Gildon is not niamed (see Liist of G^iJdon's works). The public was .intended to soippose that Ivord Lands- dow,ne was t.he author of the whole. This was one of Curll's favourite tricks.
(i) In Gildon 's work, Wycherley's poetry vras roughly handled, a fact which displeased Deuiuis, so that, later, Gildon had to apologise : « I atn sorry I have not pleased you in what I have said of Mr Wycherley » (Letter dated A.ug. 11 th, 1721, and published by Dennis in his Remarks tipon several Pas- :- ^'relimiiicrics to the Duvciad, etc.).
34
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
order to explain plausibly his final rupture with Addison^ he made to Spcncc (i) the following justification of his conduct : « Gildon wrote a thing about Wycherley in which he had abused both me and ray relations very grossly. Lord Warwick himself told me one day that it was in vain for me to endeavour to be well with Mr Addi- son, that his jealous temper could never admit of a settled friendship between us ; and, to convince me of what he had said, assured me that Addison had encouraged Gil- don to publish those scandals, and had given him ten guineas after they were published ». An J Nichols in his Illustrations of the Literary History of the i8 ih century asserts plainly : « Gildon abused Mr P(ope) very scandal- ously in an anonymous pamphlet of the Life of Mr Wych- erley printed by Curll )> (2). It is curious to find that the biographers of Pope and Addison agree unanimously that this Life of Wycherley, from which we quote, had never existed outside Pope's malignant imagination (3). Pope's allegations had a firm basis, but his hostility tO' Addison had shown itself long before the Life of Wych- erley appeared, for the famous attack on Addison un- der the character of Atticus dates from July 1715, and was provoked by the fact that Addison encouraged Tick- ell, author of a translation of the Iliad which was intend- ed to compete with Pope's translation. It may be, hmv- ever, that, after hearing Warwick's story. Pope sent di-
(i) Spenoe (1699-1768) related thi.s bit of scandal in his invaluable Anecdotes (p. 14S). It was also recounted in simi- lar terms by Warburtcai in his comments on Pope's Epistle to Dr. Arhuthnot (1751 ed. of Pope's Works, IV, 25-27).
(2) 1817 ed. vol. II, 727 n.
(3) See for example Mr Courthope'.-? Addison (VII) and the D. N. B.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 35
rectly to Addison a copy of the extract on the character of Atticus (i).
It remains to inquire into the truth of Pope's allega- tion, and to see if he had any serious reasons for believing the Earl of Warwick's gossip. It seems he had, — for there is extant a letter, dated the 12 th of February 17 19, which Gildon dictated to his amanuensis and sent to Addison (2) . This letter proves that there had been rela- tions of some kind between the two men : Gildon alludes to past correspondence, and reminds Addison that he had sent him one of his books as a New Year gift, and is still waiting for <( the relief which Justice required to his sufferings » ; he adds that he is troubled by some ru- mours according to which the collection of letters he sent him had given him offence. Finally, « to incite his native generosity to be the more active in his cause », he sends him 3 copies of his Cases in Latin, in the hope that Addi- son, still powerful with the government w^hich he had just left on account of ill-health, would undertake to procure for him a small annuity. It is very likely that Addison, who loved to appear a generous patron, sent 10 guineas to Gildon in answer to this appeal. But was the money sent because Gildon had abused Pope in the Life of Wycherley ? It is very doubtful : Addison, it is true, never felt any sympathy for Pope, and probably read Gil- don's attack with pleasure. It may be that Lord War-
(i) I had long concluded that Gildou's Life of Wycherley must be in existence, a,nd had traced a copy in the New- York Public Li(braTj% when I found I had been, forestalled by ]\Ir G«orge Sherburn, who described Gildon's book in a very interesting communication to the Times L. S. for May 11 th, 1922. But all the facts recounted im these pages about Addi- son's attitude in the quarrel are new.
(2) B. M. Mss. E. G. 1971.
36 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
wick. Addison's brother-in-law, knew of the gift of mon- ey to Gildon. He may, during a temporary estrangement with Addison, in order to be revenged on him, have told Pope, either in good faith or maUciously, that the mon- ey was given for the purpose he alleged, knowing that Pope was not likely to let such an injury pass unpunished. It is quite certain that Pope had no reason to doubt the truth of Lord Warwick's story.
Pope considered Gildon a contemptible enemy, and did not reply with the virulence which the poor hack-writer desired, in order to promote the sale of his books. Gildon, Pope thought, was an insignificant satellite of Dennis, for whom also he affected the greatest disdain :
« If Dennis ivriies and rails in furious pet, I'll answer Dennis when I am in debt. If meagre Gildon draws his meaner quill, I wish the man a dinner, and sit still n (i).
A curious fact is that Dennis was ashamed of Gildon's friendship and deemed it convenient to deny his close relations with him ; he published two letters written to him b}^ Gildon, the respectful tone of which, he main- tained, sufficiently bhowed that the writer was not an inti- mate friend of his. « Now, is it not plain », Dennis claimed, « that any one who sends such compliments to an other, has not been us'd to write in Partnership with him to whom he sends them? » (2) And yet both writers had jointly published, on the 5 th of February 1720, a polem- ical work entitled A Ne^u Project for the Regulation of the Stage, by Mr D-nis and Mr G-don. The authors sup- ported the Lord Chamberlain in his quarrel with vSteele,
(i) Epistle to Arbuthnot. In later editions the word venal was substituted for meaner.
(2) Remarks upon several Passages, etc. (1720).
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 37
•whose lice play cit Drury Lane theatre had just been
:suppressea ...r « great misbehaviour ». Gildon's ingrati- tude tovvti. ''1. 1-iis former patron met with success, as a second editiju of the book was issued 3 days after the first (i). ? 'r^od, Pope was right in uniting Gildon and Dennis, .■ ..orkers under Curll's rod, in the same
shameful • " rtality in the Dunciad :
(( He [Eu.- ■ 7 J sleeps among the dull of ancient days,
Safe, ivherc vo critics damn, no duns molest.
Where 7i'rci: I'cd Withers, Ward and Gildon rest... »
[(I, 294)].
« Ah ih nnls, Gildon ah ! 7i'Jiat ill-starr'd rage Dividi.- ; friendship long confirm'd by age ? Block!- f^uas with reason zcicked ivits abhor, But for! :jlth fool is barbarous civil ivar. Enibrocc, embroxe, my sons ! be foes no more I Nor g':':! tile pools 7cith true critics' gore ! » (2).
[(in, 173)]-
i'ope, Ik V. c\er, uiidtrrated Gildon ; for one of the lat- ter's works, tiie Complete Art of Poetry, which was pub- lished in : ;8 a few v.xeks before he became completely blind, sho-.\f-^ iliat he had real merit as a critic. Pope, who could net a- 'nreciate a book which aimed so many poisoned shafts at his poetical kingship, might ha\e said with jus- tice that Gildon had but poorly applied in his works the rules he prescribed so clearly. We must acknowledge, however, tr.rt Gildon has at least summed up adequately the chief piinciples of classical art ; he possessed erudi- tion, thouf:'. he was often pedantic in the display of it.
(i) Advertisement i:i the Daily Post for Feb. 8th, 1720.
(2) For pJI those « difjces » see the Roiiarks on the Dun- ciad.
38 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
The Complete Art of Poetry consists of 5 dialogues, the titles of which show the spirit of the whole work :
1. Of the Nature, Use, Excellence, Rise and Progress of Poetry ;
2. Of the Use and Necessity of Rules in Poetry ;
3. Of the ^Manner, Rules and Art of composing Epi- grams, Pastorals, Odes, etc. ;
4. Of Tragedy and Comedy ; how to draw the Plot from the characters of both ;
5. The Rules of the Epic or Narrative Poem, of the Poetic Diction or Language, and of English numbers.
The frequent repetition of the word rule is enough to prove how intolerantly classical were Gildon's theories : according to him, «. no IModcrn had an\' merit but what he owed to the rules and precedents of the Ancients » (i). Shakespeare, in his opinion, was great only when he ob- served the rules : <( He had a genius, indeed, capable of coming up to the rules, but not sufficient to find them out himself, though it be plain from his own words he saw the absurdities of his own conduct... Sir Philip Sid- ney had discovered the faults of the English Stage in his Apologie for Poetrie, and Shakespeare himself had writ- ten one or two almost regular plays; therefore Shakespeare's errors arc the more inexcusable ». To Gildon, Shake- speare was tolerableionly in extracts ; and at the end of his Complete Art he published a selection of beauties from Shakespeare's plays in modernized English, entitled Shakespeariana. Gildon's book was, on the whole, a goo<l code for beginners, or, according to the "poet Matthew Green : « Poetic buckets for dry wells » (2)"
(i) See a short paper on Oil don's theories in the Modern Language Revieu' XIV, p. 386. {Two minor Critics of the Age of Pope, by I). S. Sarma).
(2) The Spleen (1737), line 16.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON ■ 39
Gildon appears to us more classical than Boileau, whose Art Poetique, translated in 1680 by William Soame, had been modified by Dryden to suit English taste Gil-
don was the extreme theorist of the tendencies that pre- \ailed in English poetry from the Restoration to the end of the 18 th century. His book is interesting to study in this light ; it is very il earned, sometimes even pedantic in .tone, but often original, as for example in the last dia- logue in which musical notations are used to explain the theory of stressed syllabes in English metre.
Gildon evidently founded extravagant hopes on this book, of which he was very proud. The humble dedication which he addressed to King George the First was probably rewarded with some money. But the book did not obtain tlie success it deserved : the bookseller had for three years to advertise it continually as « just published », in order to get rid of the whole edition. Gildon was happily indem- nified by the rapid sale of his pamphlet against Robinson Crusoe, published in the foUoiwing year (2). But the suc- cess of one book in those days could afford only a very temporary relief. Merely to live, Gildon was obliged to beg from the rich patrons of literary men. He sent his works to any nobleman who was likely to give him a few guineas. He probably received a generous gift from the Earl of Carnarvon (3), \v-lio was well known for his liber- ality to poor v/riters : Gildon had written in his honour a poem of over 600 lines entitled Canons, or th^ Vision (4).
(i) vSee Charlanne : [.'Influence jrangaise en Angleterre eu 17" siUle, I, p. 315.
(2) vSee the Iiitiodirctiou to (iiildon's pampklet.
(3) James Brydges, afterwards Diike of Chandas.
(4) Canons (uear Edgware), was the name of the Earl's magni'ficeut residence. It was described by De Foe in his Tour through Great Britain, (II, 3).
40 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
lie was also amply rewarded by the Duchess of Bucking- hamshire and Normanby ; he had long before prepared a commentary on the Duke's Essay on Poetry, which His Grace himself had been pleased to read and correct, but did not think fit to publish. At the Duke's death on the ^4 th of February 1721, the manuscript was returned to Gildon who added two similar commentaries on the Essay on translated Verse by the Karl of Roscommon, and Lord Landsdowne's (i) On Unnatural Flights in Poetry. The whole was published under the title The Laws of English Poetry : it was much discussed in literary circles, because of the names of the poets, but the commentaries are heavy, pedantic, and full of absurdities such as this : « Mr Addison in the Spectators, in his criticisms upon Milton, seems to have mistaken the matter, in endeavouring to bring that poem to the rules of the epopoeia, which can- not be done... It is not an Heroic Poem, but a Divine one, and indeed of a new species. It is plain that the proposi- tion of all the heroic poems of the Ancients mentions some one person as the subject of their poem... But Milton begins his poem of things, not of men ». Such discussions seem to us trifling and ridiculous : but at that time they allowed their author to i)ass as a critic of considerable mark. What pleased Gildon certainly more than the repu- tation of his book or its success — which was but indiffe- rent (2) — was the important sum he received from the Duke's widov>- ; but, he tells us liimself (3i, « though my
(i) George Granville, baron Landsdowne (1667-1735) verse- writer and dramatic author.
(2) The book.seller advertised it again im 1723 {British Journal for March 20 th^ which <hov7s that the edition wa.-^ not yet sold out.
(3) In his 2 nd letter to Prior (Aug. i st, 1721). Hist. Mss. Conim. Mss. of the Marquis of Bath, IH^ ^^07.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GIL I 4 1
Lady Duchess's present was extremely handsome, yet my anticipations upon it were so large that I had but little left of it as soon as received ». Having paid his debts, Gildon, penniless once more, resolved to start a collection in his own favour : he thought that if he interested the Harleys, success w^ould be certain. His old friend Dennis had often received money from the ex-minister through the intermediary of the poet Prior, who v/as a favourite of the Harleys. From his dark and filthy garret in Bull Head Court, at the corner of Jewin St. and Aldersgate St., Gildon now begins a long correspondence with Prior. His letters, which were never answered, are interesting as they show that notwithstanding his low and miserable condi- tion, he was still full of intolerable vanity.
About the middle of February (1721) Gildon had sent to Prior's house in Duke St. the inanuscript of a tragedy, which, from the description given, seems to have been simply the old manuscript of his tragedy, the Patriot ; which was impudent enough, as Prior was expected to believe that it was original work. To the ivanuscript Gil- don joined a letter begging Prior for his intercession with Harley. A week later, on the 21 st, Gildon, v/ho was grovving impatient at receiving no acknowledgment, sent the following missive in praise of his woric (i) :
« It is now a week since I presumed to trouble you with a manuscript tragedy and a letter to beg your mediation and recommendation of it to ^ny Lord Harley and his Lady, that is, provided it met v.ith 3-our own approval, which I flatter myself it would do, because it moves the passions in so eminent a degree, which i> the chief excel- lence in that way of writing, and so all- ■ ^ " 'o be by all ages till the present, when v\?e have had a . grammat-
(i) Hist. M&s. Comm. Rep. — .i^.s.;. iMarqms of
Bath III, 496.
42 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
ical crilics arise, who have put the diction or language upon a foot with it, nay, who have made the diction, though scarce taken notice of by Aristotle, the chief mark and charac- teristic of a good or bad tragedj', and such a sort of dic- tion,/which, though correct enough in itself, is yet by its uniformity scarce tolerable in this way of writing, if we may give any credit to Horace, Eoileau, and even to the nature of things ; for tragedy consisting of the representation of different passions, must of necessity vary its style accord- ing to the nature of each passion which it brings on the stage. But this is a subject of too large an extent for a let- ter, and considering the knowledge and judgment of the person I write to, wholly superfluous. I must confess that there may be some bold metaphors of Mr Lee's which I have retained in this alteration, and which I choose rather t:j do than to deviate too far from the genius and spirit of my author, but I hope they are not many nor so great but that the excellence of the passions may sufficiently atone for them. It was by this quality alone that Otway fixed his immortal reputation with all but the verbal critics, and I think I may say that after Otway the tragedy under our consideration claims the next place in that particular ; but I forgot myself. If this play wants an apology to such a judge as Mr Pryor, I am sure it deserves none. If it does not, it will sufficiently recommend itself. I therefore only once more beg, that, if you approve on't, you would rec- ommend it to my Lord and Lady Harley's perusal and patronage. — P. S. - I would have waited on you myself, but that I have been confined to my chamber by blind- ness and lameness and a very infirm health. »
Many weeks passed. Prior thought Gildon troublesome and neither answered his letter, nor spoke to Harley. By the middle of July, having spent the money he had re- ceived from the Duchess of Buckinghamshire, Gildon or- dered 3 of his books to be left at Harle>''s, one directed to
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON .] 3
My Lord himself, one to My Lady, and the third to the distinguished poet, their friend. A fortnight passed, and there was still no answer ; so, on the ist of August. Gil- don sent a more pressing epistle, reminding Prior uf his gift of books, and begging his « earnest and speedy assist- ance » to obtain Harley's help for the collection he was beginning. The chief argument he used in his appeal was that the poet had already used his influence with Harley for writers in similar circumstances : « These two last terms, my old acquaintance Sam. JBriscoe (i) called upon me, and among other things informed me that he had m his trouble met with no act of generosity but from Mr Prior who had given him 5 guineas for a set of Tom Brown's (2) works, and had prevailed with my lord Har- ley to give him five more for another set. He farther in- formed me that one ISIr Jacups (3), a new author, told him that Mr Prior had made a collection for him to pay his debts. These generous actions to these two makes me hope that I likewise shall find the good effect of your benef- icient temper, having every way, I think, as reasonable a claim to it, as the two persons I have mentioned, and by this a stronger, that I am in years, blind and lame, and of a ver>' infirm health. I am endeavouring to get a collection made for me to enable me to remove from this out-of-the-way place to one more proper for my condition, and to provide against the attacks of necessity
(1) A p<X)r bookseller and writer, who had been xedraced to bankruptcy. (lildon had compiled for him tr:e tran-slatiion of Lucian's Works.
(2) See the note ou the last page of ClLaptiei I.
(3) The name was misspelt b}' GJildor!,'s amiamitieinsis ; this Ls Giles Jacob (1686-1744) known chiefly for his Poetical Register, or Lives avd Characters of the English Dramatic Poets (1719-20). In. 1721 he dedicated a poem, Human Happi- ness, to Prior.
44 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
by setting up a lecture (i) which will be sufficient to sup- pi}' my wants. Being sensible that to engage my Lord Plarley in this collection, there is nothing wanting but your mediation, that is what now I most earnestly beg at your hands... » (2).
Another week passed, and Gildon, in despair, gave vent to his angry feelings of wounded dignity in an epistle, the whole of which is worth quoting as being characteristic of his vanity and lack of self-respect {3) : « I understand that you and mj- Lord's family are all moving out of loxvn next Saturday. I am the more surprised because I have not had one line from you about the present I sent yov;, or my subsequent letter to you, which is a treat- ment that I have not met with from any one but Mr Prior ; for though I have v.'ritten to the greatest men in England, both ecclesiastical and temporal, yet not one of them ever thcrglit me un\A-crthy of a civil answer, but I suppose that it is not Mr Prior's way. As a gentleman, as I may say I am both by birth and education, and I think with- out niucli vanity I may say a scholar, I thought I had a right to an answer from another gentleman, but it seems I was mistaken, which confirms the opinion of a very inti- mate friend of mine, who told me that I had so long locked m3\'itlf u]) from the world that I had forgot the world. And yet I hope that my mistaking Mr Prior will not be a ver}' strong proof of this assertion, because upon my send- ing one of my books to one of the greatest persons in
(i) This was evidentlj- a new form of Gildon's project (of which he had already spoken to Harlc}') for oppasaaig the stable by moral lectures (see chap. III).
(2) Hist. Mss. Comm. Rep. — Mss. of the Marquis of Bath, III, 506-7.
(3) Id. p. 507. This letter has been pnbhshed by Mr. Bick- Icy ir his Life of Prior (pp. 266-7).
THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON 43
England (i), he not only sent me 20 guineas, but likewise ordered his chaplain to send me a very obliging answer. I have much more to say to you upon this head, but shall defer till you return to town. I shall trouble you with no more at present. >»
But Prior was spared Gildon's recriminations, for he never came bad: to London; he died at Wimpole, Harlcy's country-seat, in September 1721.
Gildon's last years were lamentable ; they were as uneventful and sad as his youth had been agitated and gay. His blindness overwhelmed him, and it needed tre- mendous energy to carrj-- on the drudgery of a hack- writer. He never thought of getting rid of his w^oes through suicide, as he had announced he would do, in the early days of his deistical career. Lloyd, his amanuensis, read to him daily from the papers or new books, and wrote letters or original work at his dictation (2). His garret seemed darker than ever, as the visits of his friends grew rarer. Soon, he was too lame to go out, and perpetually in a state of ill-health. Nevertheless he had still to work day and night at sm.all tasks for the booksellers. On the 12 th of January 1724 (3 , Death struck this literary beg- gar in the 58 th year of liis age ; it must have been wel- comed as a deliverer.
In the P&Iitical State of Great Britain, Beyer (4) men-
(i) This was most probabl}- tJie Earl of Caircarvon, v.4io, when this w"as written., had -been created Duke of Chandos a.ud appointed Governor of the Charterhouse.
(2) Letter to Deoiuis, dated. Jan. 10 th, 1722. (IHiblished in Dennis's Remarks upon several Passages).
(3) And not on the 14 th, as Nichols erroneoush* states (Literary Anecdotes, I, 25 n). See Musgrave'i; Obituary, Jacob's Poets, 1, 115, etc.
{4) (1667- 1 72^,), a French Hngnenot who had fcaketi refuge
40 THE LIFE OF CHARLES GILDON
tioned Gildon's death and described him as a man « of great literature but mean genius ». The Universal Jour- nal for Jan. 15 th published a poem To the Memory of Mr Charles (iildoii, which, for all its coarse wit, sums up fairly the career of the unhappy writer :
(( / lov'd thee liviyig, and I mourn thee dead, Whose Fate 'iivas to be better Taught than Fed. IVhaic'cr the Greek and Latin had in store Of .-Irt and Eloquence thou hadst and more... From Mass to Common Prayer he early flew, The Papists Terror, and the Deists too. Who, vhilst he lashed the Vices among Men, Religion never suffer' d from his Pen... To sum up all, ^ve've lost an honest fellow, That treated more in metal red than yellow.
Such was the epitaph of a man whose life would consti- tute one of the most pitiful chapters of a Vie de Boheme in England at the beginning of the Eighteenth Century
in England. An aunalist and journali&t, he is known chiefly for hi,s polemics with De Foe.
GHROKOLOaiGAL LIST OF GILDON'S WORKS
1691. — History of the Athenian Society for the resalving' of all nice and curious questions. By a gentleman who got tifv-r-i^i- ;-•<■«'••■: .^/^<^r^cv r-r 4-ij^fr whole ri'oceedings. To which are prefixed several poems written by Mr Tate, ^Ir Motteux, _ ,^-.c-.ui:-;r<i6CHi amd others. Loudon [folio].
.^^. — Nuncitis Infernalis : or a New Account from Below. In 2 dialogues. The ViTSi (From the Elizinm Fields) of Friendship. The second (from Hell of Cuckoldom) Being the Sessions of Cuckolds. By Charles Gildon, gent. With a Preface by Mr Dtirfey. Loudon, Thomas Jones, [pp X and 24] 5 feb.
A Letter lo Mr d'Urjey, occasioned b}- hiri play called the Marriage-hater matched [published by D'Urfey with the first ed. of his play]. London [4 to].
Poeta infamis; or a Poet not worth hanging, being a dialogue between Lysander Valentine and poet Pricker. \Vi.th a letter to the author of tlie INIarriage-hater iruitched, written by his friend... London. [Dedication signed C. G...n].
Miscellany Poems upon Several Occasions : consisting of Original Poems by the late Duke of Buckingham, Mr Mil- ton, IVIr Prior, Mrs Eehn, Mr Tho Brown, etc. And the trans- lations from Horace, Persins, Petronius Arbiter etc. With an Essiay upon Satyr by the famous M. Daciet... Licens'd May 21, 1692. London, Peter Buck [S° pp XXXII and 112] [The Epistle Dedicatory signed Charles Gildon]. (Reis-sued in 1698 with the following title. The Poetical Reviaines of the Duke of B-ickiingham, Sir G. Etheddge, Mr Milton, etc.).
4^ gildon's works
The Post boy Robb'd of his Mail : or the Pacqtiet Broke ()ix\u. Con sis till g' of Letters of Love aaid Gallaiitry and all Misoellaiieous Subjects : in vvhioh are discover'd the Vertues, \'ices, Follies, Humours and Intrigues of Mankiaid. With Remarks on Each letter. 2 vols. London [8 vo pp. XXIV and 4S8J [The Ei>istle Dedicatory .sigaied C. G.J (Reissued in one vol. « with tJie addition of many aJid in.genious letters, never before p'.iblish'd ». Lc-i'.don. 1706).
1693. — Tiic Oracles of Reason. In several letters to Air Hobbs and other Persons of eminent Q,uality and Learning. By Char. Blount esq, Mr Gildon and others. — London [1.2", pp. ZvXIV and 226] (Preface signed C. Gildon).
1694. — Chorus poctarnm : or Poems on Several Occa- sion-s. By the E-uke of Buckingham, the late Lord Rochester, Sir Jokn Denham, vSir Geo Etheridge, Andrew Marvel esq, the famous Spencer, Aladam Bean, and several other Eminent Poets of this Age. Xever before Printed. — London, B. P-ragg [8 vo, !)p. XVI a;nd 176] (the EpiiStle Dedicator}^ bigned Charles Gildou).
Miscellaneous Letters and Essays on sevieral subjects Philosophical, Alcral, Kisitorical, Critical, Amorous etc. in Prose and Verse. Directed to John Dr3'de'n, esq ; The Hanouf- able Cieo. 'iranvill, esq; Walter Mod.le, esq; Mr Dennis, Mr Cougreve, And other PMiinent Men of th' Age. By several Gentlemen and Ladies [mosth' by '.riildou]. London. B. Bragg. [8 vo, pp. XVI anxl 231 J (The Epistle Dedicatory, and many Essays signed Chr.rles Gildon). October 1694.
1695. — The Miscellaneous Works of Charles Blount esq. Cion.taiin.:ng : I. The Oracles of Reason etc. II. Anima Muaidi, or the Opinions of the Antients concerning Alan's Soul after this Life, according to ujiinlightened Nature. III. Great is the Diana of the Epihesiaus, or the 0-rigiaial of Priestcraft and Idolatr3-, and of the Sacrifices of the (jcntiles. IV An Appeal from the Country to the City for the Preservation of His Alajesty's Person, I^i.berty nul Property, and the Protestant Reli^gion. V A just Vindication of Learning, and of the Liberty of the Press. VI A supposed Dialogue be- twixt the late King James and King William on the Banks of the Bo>-ne, the day before that famou'S victorj-. To which is prefixed the Life of the author, and an account and Vindi- cation of his Death. — London [i2"j.
gildon's works -19
1696. — The Younger Brother : or the Amorous Jilt. A Comedy acted at the Theatre Ro3'al, by His Majesty's Serv- ants. Written by the late Ingenious Mrs A. Behn. With some Accounts of her Life. — London, R. Baldwin [4 to, pp X + 52] (The Epistle Dedicatory signed Ch. Gildon).
1697. — The Roman Bride's Revenge. A Tragedy. As iit is acted .at the Theatre Royal, by His Majesty's servants. — Lonidion, J. Sturton [4 to. pp. IV + 52].
Familiar Letters of the Earl of Rochester, edited by Charles Gildon — 2 vols [S vo].
169S. — The Lives and Characters of the English Dra- matic Poets. Also an exact account of all the Plays that were ever yet Prinited in the English Tongue ; their Double Titles, the I'laces where acted, the Dates when Printed, and the Persons to whom Dedicated; with Remarks and Observa- tions on most of the said Plays. First begun by Mr Langbain, improv'd and continued down to this time, by a careful HaiUd. — IvOn.don, Tho Leigh and Wm Turner [3 vo, pp iSo].
Phaeton : or the Fatal Divorce. A Tragedy. As it is acted at the Theatre Ro3'al. In imitation of the Anitients. With some reflections on a Book call'd, a Short View of the Immo- rality and Frofaneness of the English Stage. — London, A. Roper [4 to, pp XXII and 34].
Poetical Remains of Mrs Bckn. — Loiidon, A. Bettes- worth [S vo]. Edited by Charles Gildon.
All the histories and novels written by the late ingen- ious Mrs Behn... published by Mr. Charles Gildon. — London, .\. Bettesworth. 2 vols. (12°) [another edition in 1705 ; 7 th ed. in 1722 ; S th in 1735 ; 9 th in 1751].
1700. — Measure for Measure, or Beauty the Best Advo- cate. As i,t is acted at the Theatre in Li.ncolins-Inn Fields. Written originally by Mr vShakespear : And now very much alter'd : Witli Additions of several Entertainments of IMu- sick. — London', D. Brown, and Parker [4 to, pp IV and 84].
1701. — A Xew Miscellany of Original Poems, on several Occasions. Written by the E(arl) of D(or.set), Sir Charles Sidley, Sir Fleetw. Shepheard, Vir Wole.s.ly, Mr Granvill, Mr Dryden, Mr Stepney, Mr Rowe, and several other eminent Hands. — London, Peter Buck and G. Straiian. [8 vo, pp X\T and 341]. (Dedication signed Charles Gildon).
or the Oueen of Wales. A Tragedy. As
5o gildon's works
it was Acted at the Tlieatre ia Lioicolns - kiu-Fields. B3' His Majesty's Servants. — Lcmdon, Parker and Strahan. |4 to, pp XII aJid 52].
1702. — Examcn Misccllaneum. Consistir.g of Verse and ]'ro.se. Of verse by the Most HonouraWe the Marqiiis of Normauby, the late Lord Rochester, Mr Waller, Mr Wharton, Mr Wolseley. With Satires and Faoles, and translations from Anacreon. In Prose, above 100 original Max.ims and Reflec- tions. To which are added Precepts, Maxims and Reflections taken out of Theognis, Phoc^'lides, Pj^hagoras, Solon. Simonides, Callimaclius, Hiileraon, Alexis, Anaxaiidrides, Aristophanes, Aix>llodorus, Di'philnis, Moenander, Embulus, Timocles, and several other Greek poets. — Ivondon, Chantry [8 vo, pp XXXIV and 192].
A Comparison between the 2 Stages, with an Ex^imen of the Generous Conqueror; and some critical Remarks on the Funeral, or Grief Alamode, the False Friend, Tamerlane and others. In dialogue. — Ixjndion [8 vo, pp VIII and 200].
1703. — The Patriot, or the Italian Conspirac}', a tragedy; as it is acted at the Theatre Royal in Drur}' lane. — London, Wm Davis and G. vStralian [4 to, pp X and 56].
Ovidius Britannicus : or Love Epistles in Imitation of Ovid. Being an Intrigue betwixt two persons of Quality. To which are added : Phaon's answer to Sapho and Theseus answer to Ariadne, which were wanting in Ovid's Epistle. I'.y David Crawford, gent. — [edited b}- Gildon]. — London, Chantry [8 vo, pp XII and 152] (Dedication signed Charles '".■Idon).
1705- — '^'''^' Deist's Manual : or, a Rational Enquiry into the Christian Religion. With .some Considerations on Mr Hohbs, Spinosa, the Oracles of Reason, Second Thoughts etc. P>y C. C,i,ldon, gent. Publisher of the Oracles of Reason. To which is prefixed a Letter from the author of the Method with the Deists. — London ; Roper, Coggan and Strahan [8 to, pp XLIV, 301 and 36].
1706. — A Letter pom Iler Royal Highness, the Princess .Sophia, Electress of Brunswic and Luneburg, to His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. With Another from Hanover, Written bv Sir Rowland Gwynne to the Right Honourable the Earl of vStanford. — London, B. Bragg; 2 d. [4 to, pp 8] February.
gildon's works r>i
.'I Review of Her royal liighn -^ lYincess Sophia's letter to the lord Archbishop of Canterbury, and that of vSir Rowland C^wynu's to the Right Honourable tlie Earl of Stanford. — London, B. Bragg [8 vo]. March or April.
170S. — Libertas Triumphans, a poem occasion'd by the glorious victory obtain 'd near Odenard by the Forces of the Allies under the command of his highness John Duke of Marlborough and prince of the Sacred Roman. Empire, and the Velt-Mareschall Aiiverquerque : on the i st of Jaly 1708. — London ; Morphew [folio] ; 22 July — (Dedication signed Cha.rles Gildon).
1709. — The Golden Spy : or a political Journal of the Briti.-h Nvent^ Entertainments of War and Peace, and love and Politics : wherein are laid open, the Secret Miraculous Power and Progress of Gold in the Courts of Europe. Inter- mix'd with Delightful Intrigues, Memoirs, Tales and Ad Ven- turas serious and comical. — London, Woodward and Mor- phew. [8 vo, pp XVI and 304].
1710. — The Golden Spy : 2 nd volume.
The Works of Mr IVilliam Shakespeare. Vol. the Seventh. Conitaining : Venus and Adonis, Tarquin and Lucrece, and his Miscellany Poems. With critical Remarks on his Plays etc ; to which is Prefixed an Essay on the Art, Rise and Progress of the Stage iii Greece, Rome amd England. — London, E Curll a,nd E Sanger. [8 vo, p-p LXXII and 476] (Reissued as 9 th Vol. in 1714 ; as 7 th Vol. in 1725; as 10 th Vol. in 1728).
The Life of Mr Thomas Betterton, the late eminent Tragedian. Wherein, the action and utter acce of the Stage, Bar and Pulpit are distinctly consider 'd. Wi(th the Judgment of the late Ingenious Jlonsienr de St Evremond upon the Italian and French music and opeiras ; in a letter to the Duke of Buckingham. To which is added. The Amorous Widow, or the Wanton Wife. A comedy. Written by Mr Betterton. Now first printed from the original Copy. — London, R. Gosling. 3 s. 6 d. [portrait, pp XIV, 176 and 87].
1711. — A Grammar of the English Tongue, with Notes, Giving the Grounds and Reason ci Grammar in general. To which is added, a New Prosodia; or the art of English numbers. All aduipted to the Use of Gentlemen and Ladies,
^- gildon's works
as well as of tl-.e Schools in Great Britain. — London, J. IJrightland. [^z", pp XII and iSoJ. Jainiary, (2 nd ed. in 1712).
The Works of Lnciaii, translated from the Greek by several Eminent Hands. With the Life of Lucian, a Discourse on his Writing's, and a character of some of the present translators. Written by Joihn Dr3'den esq. — London, Briscoe, 4 vols.
1714- — A Nciij ReJicarsal, or Bays the Younger, con.taiuing an Exameu of The Ambitious Stepmother, Tamerlame, The Biter, Fair Penitent, Ro3'al Convert, Ulysses, a,nd Jane Shore. All Written by N. Rowe, Esq. Also a Word or two upon Mr Pope's Rape of the Lock. To which is i)refixed, A Preface in Vindication of Criticism in General b\' the late earl of Shaftesbury. — London, J. Roberts, i s. [S vo, pp XXII and 88].
1717. — A True Character of Mr Pope [Written by Dennis, with Gildon's lielp]. London, S. Popping. 3 d.
Cases in Latin ; or a Latin Cirammar (I^etter to Addison, Feb. 1 719).
Canons : or the Vision. A Poem addressed to the Right Honourable James Earl of Caernarvan etc. — London, J. Roberts; price i s. [8 vo, pp XII and 26].
171S. — Memoirs of the Life of William Wycherley, Esq. With a Character of his Writings. By the Right Honourable George, Lord Land.sdowne : io which are added. Some r'amiiliar Letters, Written by ^Ir W^xherley, and a Tme Copy of his I^st Vv^ill and Testament. — London, E. Curll ; price I s. [pp 42]. 3 'Ma.y (Advertiised by the Evening Post as The Life of William Wycherley esq. b}- Charles Gildon, gent. \v\fh. a Character of Mr Wycherley and his \\'ritings l)y the Lord Landsdown, etc).
The Complete Art of Poetry, in .Six Parts... By Charles Crildon, Gent. — London, Rivington; 6 s. [12°, pp XVI and 362]. July.
1719. — The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Mr D... De F... etc (see our Introduction) (Advertised by the Daily Courant as The True 1 ife etc).
1720. — A ne'd' Project for the Regulation of the Stage. By Mr D — nis and Mr G — don. — London; Boreham, Curll, Chetwood, Graves. 4 d. — 5 Feb. (2 nd ed, 8 Feb).
GILDOX^S WORKS -53
172 1. — The La-d's of Poetry, As laid down by the Duke of Buckinghamshiire in liis Essay on Poetry, by the Earl of Roscommon in his Essay on Translated Verse, by the Lord Landsdowne on Unnatural Flights in Poetry, Explained and Illustrated. — London, J. Morley. [S vo, pp XVI + 351]-
INTRODUCTION TO GILDON'S PAMPHLET
When De Foe's novel, the Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Rohmson Crusoe, was issued on the 25 th of April 1 719, its extraordinary and immediate success filled the poor hack-writers of Grub-street with envy. The author, whose name was easily guessed, was not one of the literati that frequented Swift and Pope, or Steele and Addison ; he was a popular journalist, living by his pen, whose poor instruction excited much raillery, and whose dubious political dealings gave rise to much scandal. His book had already a second edition on the 12 th of May, • a third on the 6 th of June, and a fourth on the 8 th of August ; success so tremendous was unheard of before. Gildon, who could scarcely sell out one edition of those learned works which revealed his extensive knowledge of the Ancient writers, was full of jealousy at the triumph so easily achieved by a rival writer who always wrote has- tily, was no scholar, and who, besides, had formerly abused him in two poems. More Refor?naUon, and the Pacifi- cator.
Gildon reflected that he could do a good piece of busi- ness, and at the same time have his revenge on De Foe, by writing a sharp criticism of Robinson Crusoe : any thing connected with this great book was sure of an easy sale. He had De Foe's work read to him, and, on hearing each passage, dictated reflections upon it. He intended to
56 INTRODUCTION
compose an open epistle to the author of Robijison Crusoe; this was the fonn then generally taken by controversial pamphlets between politicians or men of letters. The epistle occupied Gildon a whole fortnight in August, for he was obliged to work slowly, and could not afford to interrupt his drudgery for the booksellers.
Gildon had scarcely ended his Epist'Le when, on the 20 th of August, the second volume of Robinson Crusoe appeared. He thought this a good opportunity to double the size of his projected pamphlet, and thus raise its price from 6 d to I s. He continued to work hastily, for he was eager to j^rofit by the popularity of Do Foe's novel to launch his little work, and he dictated a long Postscri<pl. Then a bright idea occurred to him : he had hitherto considered Robinson Crusoe only as an absurd romance, entirely invented by De Foe's « prolific brain » ; he was struck now by a passage in the preface to the Further Adventures. De Foe, finding that he could not long pre- tend that Robinson Crusoe was, as he at first claimed, « a just history of fact », had cleverly managed an escape for himself, in case he should be convicted of « lying » : « The just application of every incident », he insinuated, « the religious and useful inferences drawn from every part, are so many testimonies to the good design of mak- ing it public, and must legitimate all the part that may be called invention or parable in the story ».
The w'ord parable was a flash of light to Gildon's mind. Very likely, De Foe had written it without attaching any great importance to it ; he merely had a vague intention of asserting later, that Robinson Crusoe was an example of man's helplessness in the hands of Providence, de- signed to bring the readers to complete submissiveness to the Divine Will. This idea, however, was only dawning on his mind : his primitive intention had simply been to
TO GILDON'S PAMPHLET 5/
write a fictitious biography, and pass it off as truth. But Gildon understood how much more pointed his satire would be, if he connected the chief events of Crusoe's life \^ith De Foe's past ; he could easily ridicule De Foe by showing that he was more stupid and insane, even, than his hero.
Gildon dictated a dialogue, which has little originality in form, but contains a long tirade, the most interesting pari of the pamphlet, in Vv^hich De Foe himself explains to Robinson that he was merely his image ; and, to em- phasize this similitude, Gildon added a title, closely copied from Be Foe's, Vv'hich suggested the idea expressed in the dialogue, that Robinson Crusoe is an allegory of De Foe's life. Full of confidence, Gildon gave his work to [he bookseller J. Roberts, who issued it on the 28 th of September. It was advertised in the Daily Courant for the same day, and again, as « Just published », in the number for the first of October.
Gildon was well rewarded for his labour. His little book was, as he had expected, a success. Pamphlet-wTit- ing was not, indeed, very lucrative; booksellers gen- erally paid 2 guineas for every 500 copies sold ; but even such poor payment was welcome to a starving author. The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Daniel De ;' oe soon had a second edition, then a third, issued in Dublin in the same year. Though it had been published ano^Tymously at first, the name of the author was known, anc vas advertised in later editions. The work created much discussion in the literary w'orld, and this had a haj- V effect on the sale of Gildon's other works.
G'"] don's pamphlet is desultory ; the paragraphs follow one another in chance succession, without any logical connexion. His blindness obliged him to compose in that mam er, so that no unity was possible. The chief interest
58 INTRODUCTION
of the work is in the details it gives cf De Foe's life and of his novel. Thanks to Gildon we know that Robinso7i Crusoe was written in l)c Foe's residence at Stoke Newington, and thus we can put aside the claims of other cities, — Halifax, Gateshead, Witechapel, Hartley, — to be the place of its composition. The general public was amused by a pamphlet that enumerated the contradictions and impossibilities in a famous book, and fellow- writers were pleased to find some one who gave utterance to their envious hatred of a successful colleague.
In clubs and coffee-houses, in broadsheets and ballads, some inconsistencies in Robinson Crusoe had already been satirized. Cox, the piratical bookseller, had sup- pressed a few, and tried, often awkwardly, to palliate the grossest impossibilities of the book, in the abridged edi- tion he issued in August, to the great annoyance of De Foe and still more of Taylor, the editor of Robinsov. Gildon repeated many criticisms already commonly made, and added considerable new material. Several of his at- tacks are unjust, but most show his critical finesse. His pamphlet was only a short essay ; he passed over a great many important contradictions, though this may be due to his infirmity, which was a terrible handicap for the task. He did not notice De Foe's frequent errors in dates and numbers. It is strange also that Gildon who had spe- cially studied the first pages of the novel did not notice the following glaring anachronism : in 165 1, Robinson's father talks of his late elder son, while on the preceding page we are told that this son w^as killed at the battle against the Spaniards near Dunkirk, which took place only in 1658. A whole book might be made of the incon- sistencies in the novel, but Gildon had -neither the time nor the means to make a close study of the text.
The most interesting fact about Gildon's pamphlet is
TO GILDOx\'S PAMPHLET 59
the influence it exercised on De Foe. Gildon's criticism stung De Foe to the quick, but at the same time fur- nished him with a good defence against the charge of being a « novelist », that is a « liar )).|'In the preface to the Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe, published on the 6 th of August 1720, De Foe declared impudently that Robinson Crusoe was no romance, but an allegory of his own unhappy life : « (The story) is the beautiful representation of a life of unexampled misfortunes, and of a variety not to be met with in the world, sincerely adapted to and intended for the common good of man- kind, and designed at first, as it is now farther applied, to the most serious uses possible. » He proceeds to show how several episodes of Crusoe's story were suggested by real episodes in his own life : « In a word, there is not a circumstance in the imaginary story, but has its just allusion to a real story, and chimes part for part and step for step with the inimitable Life of Robinson Crusoe. » He wisely refrains from trying to demonstrate in detail the truth of this assertion ; for, in spite of his talent for paradox, he could hardly have proved decisively the allegorical character of his novel. But he explains why, instead of telling simply his own life, he had recourse to such a curious stratagem ; this astounding piece of impu- dence shows that De Foe was not afraid of fooling the public from whom he derived his living i « Had the common way of writing a man's private history been taken, and I had given you the conduct or life of a man you know, and whose misfortunes and infirmities perhaps you had sometimes mijustly triumphed over, all I could have said would have yielded no diversion, and perhaps scarce have obtained a reading, or at best no attention; the teacher, like a greater, having no honour in his own country. Facts that are formed to touch the mind must be done a great way off, and by somebody never heard of.
6o INTRODUCTION
Eve!i the miracles of the blessed Saviour of the world suffered scorn and contempt, when it was reflected that they were done by the carpenter's son ; one whose family and original they had a mean opinion of, and whose brothers aaid sisters were ordinary people like themselves.)) — In this preface, De Foe took care not to mention Gildon ; at the most, a contemi^tuous sentence in the Publisher's Introduction may apply to him : « those who challenged the author mxost maliciously with not making his pen useful, will have leisure to reflect, that they passed their censure too soon, and, like Solomon's fool, judged of the matter before they heard it. » Indeed, why should De Foe have been offended with a man who had furnished him with a helpful suggestion, and who, by attacking Robinson Crusoe, advertised it and contributed to augment its sale ?
f The Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe consist mostlj' of old essays which De Foe had long kept in his papers, and Vv'hich he tried to adapt to his story. \From Gildon he took many a hint : thus his long chapters on the state of religion in the world were certainly inspired by one of Gildon's criticisms. But De Foe too often forgot that he had adopted the idea that Robinson Crusoe was an allegorical tale, and told anecdotes about himself which could not be applied to a wild, wicked Robinson Crusoe », and \'ice versa.
Gildon's pamphlet was read carefully by the booksell- ers ; in the abridgment of the three volumes of De Foe's novel v.hich was published by Bettesvv'orth on the 27 th of February 1722, all the inconsistencies pointed out by Gildon are suppressed : v.e may even ask, as the preface of this work repeats Gildon's theories on the legitimacy of abridgments, if Gildon himself had not something to do with this more or less piratical compilation : the au- thor must at least have closely studied the pamphlet.
TO GILUON'S PAMPHLET • Ol
Gildon's attacks on Robinson Crusoe were resumed in November 1725 by Bishop Hoadly in an article of the London Journal. De Foe answered in Applebee's Journal for Nov. 20 th, but refrained from any precise refutation of the Bishop's charges ; he merely contended that if Robinson Crusoe was a lie, the London Journal was also full of (( many Fables and forged Stories, not to say Lies ». Then, dropping the subject, he launched into a long digression on the wickedness of the time.
After a few years, while the glory of Robinson Crusoe was still in the ascendant, Gildon's pamphlet fell into oblivion : it v;as brought to light again much later by De Foe's early biographers. In 1785, the bookseller Stock- dale entrusted an eminent jurist named De Lolme with the direction of a reprint of De Foe's History of the Union, and at the same time wrote letters to all his learned friends in order to get material for a Life of De Foe. Ke received from the Rev. Lort a copy of Gildon's pamphlet and was full of hope at the title. But he was extremely disappointed on reading the contents, as, fo^r a man unacquainted with the particulars of De Foe's life, Gildon's allusions are mere riddles. Stockdale then re- sumed his search and was fortunate enough to receive an excellent essay from De Foe's first great biographer, George Chalmers.
In his long Life and Times of Daniel Defoe, Wilson is very severe on Gildon's pamphlet, which, without hav- ing much inquired into its contents, he calls « a low performance ». Lee, De Foe's next biographer, dismisses it as « indecent and scurrilous ». Wright alone, in his biography of De Foe, recognizes the merits of the per- formance, and after an impartial examination of Gildon's pamphlet concludes with these words : « In fine, because we admire De Foe and Crusoe, we are not going to follow
62 INTRODUCTION
our predecessors in the biographical office, and call Gildon a carping fool. » — W'l- think flhat such will be the read- er's mind, wlicn he has studied Gildon's work ; and we hope that those who will undertake this short excursion into the world of the poor hack-writers of the Augustan Age, will not be repelled by the filthy streets and the stench of th.c dark deep courts.
The foil owing pages are an exact reprint of the first edition of GiJdon';> pamphlet. For the oonvenience of the rieader, we have numbered the lines. The asteri.sks in the margi,n. refer to the (notes at the end of the book.
Mtwn
TME
^ -^ ^
And Strange Surprizing
ADVENTURK
OF
Mr. D De F. . . ,
OF
LONDON, Hofier,
WHO
Has liv'd above fifty Years by himfelf, in the Kingdoms of North and South Britain. The various Shapes he has appear'd m, and the Discoveries he has made for the Benefit of his Country. 15
IN A
IDI-A^X^O G-XJE between Him,
Robin/on Criifoe, and his Man Friday.
WITH
R K Ivl JL J^ K: S serious and Co- 20
mica! upon the Life of CRUSOE.
Qui villi decipi, decipiatur.
London : Printed for J. ROBERTS in War- ivick-Lane. 17 19. Price i s.
10
THE
PRBFACB
*
*
F ever the Story of any private Man's Adventures in the World were worth making pnblick, and were acceptable when published, the Editor of this Account thinks this will be so.
The Wonders of this Man's Life exceed all that [he thinks) is to be found Extant ; the Life of one Man being scarce capable of greater Variety.
The Story is told with greater Modesty than perhaps some Men may think necessary to the Subject, the Hero of our Dialogue not being very conspicuous for that Virtue, a more than common Assurance carrying him thro' all those various Shapes and Changes which he has pass'd without the least Blush. The Fabu- lous Proteus of the Ancient Mythologist was but a very faint Type of our Hero, whose
a Changes
lO
15
66
*
\\ The PREFACE
Changes arc much more numerous, and he far more difficult to be constrained to his own Shape. If Jiis Works should happen to live to the next Age, there would in all pro- bability be a greater Strife among the several S Parties, whose lie really was, than among the seven Graecian Cities, to which of them Homer belong\i : The Dissenters first would claim him as theirs, the Whigs in general as theirs, the Tories as theirs, the Non- '<^ jurors ^5 theirs, the Papists as theirs, the Atheists as theirs, and so on to what Sub-divisions there may be among us; so that it cannot be expected that I should give vou in this short Dialos[ue his Picture at '5 length; no, I only pretend to present you with him in Miniature, in Twenty Fours, and not in Folio. But of all these Tilings, with some very surprizing Incidents in some new Adventures of his own for the rest of ^o his Life, I may perhaps give a farther Ac- count hereafter.
*
6;
DIALOGUK
BETwixT
D F,..e,
Robinson Crusoe,
And his Man
F R I D AY.
*
SCENE, -4 great field betwixt Newing- ton - Green and Newiington Toivn, at one a Clock in a Moan-light Morning.
lO
Enter D. . . .F. ..zvith two Pocket Pistols.
D--l.\ Fine pleasurable Morning,
I believe about one a
Clock ; and, I suppose,
all the Lazy Kidnapping
* Rogues are by this Time got drunk with
a 2 Geneva
A
15
6S
(Vi)
*
*
*
:J:
Geneva or Malt-Spirits to Bed, and I may pass Home without any farther Ter- ror. However, I am pretty well arm'd to keep off their imsanctified Paws from my Shoulder 5
Bless my Eye-Sight, what's this I see ! I was secure too soon here, the Philistines are come upon me; this is the Effect of my not obeying the Secret Hint I had not to come Home this Night. But, '» however, here they shall have a couple
of Bullets in their Bellies ha! two
of them, great tall Gigantick Rogues , with strange High-crown'd Caps, and Flaps hanging upon their Shoulders, and '? two Muskets a -piece, one with a Cut- lass, and the other with a Hatchet; e--g-d I'll e'en run back again to the Green.
[Turns and runs.
Oh, plague upon that swift leg'd Dog, -° he's got before me; I must now stand upon my Guard, for he turns upon me and pre- sents his Musket Gentlemen, what
would you have ? would you murder me? Take what I have, and save my Life. -5
Cru. Why, Father D...n, dost thou not know thy own Children ? art thou so frighted at Devils of thy own raising? I am thy Robinson Crusoe, and that, my Man Friday. 3^
D...I. Ah! poor Crusoe, how came you hither? what do you do here?
Cru.
69
(vii)
Cm. Ho, lio, do you know me now? You are like the Devil in Milton, that could not tell the Offspring of his own Brain, Sin and Death, till Madam Sin discovered to him who they were. Yes, 5 it is Crusoe and his Man Friday, who are come to punish thee now, for making us such Scoundrels in thy Writing : Come Friday, make ready, but don't shoot till I give the Word. la
Fri. No shoot, Master, no shoot : me will show you how we use Scribblers in my Country.
Cru. In your Country Friday, why, you have no Scribblers there? '5
Fri. No Matter that Master, we have as many Scribblers as Bears in my Coun- try; and me will make Laugh, me will make D...I dance upon a Tree like Brti- in. Oh ! me will make much Laugh, and 20 then me wall shoot.
D...I. Why, ye airy Fantoms , are you not my Creatures? mayn't I make of you what I please ?
Cm. Whj^ 3^es, you may make of us 25 what 3^ou please; but when you raise Be- ings contradictory to common Sense, and destructive of Religion and Morality ; they will rise up against yon in Foro Con- scientiae; that Latin I learn 'd in my Free- 3° School and House Education.
D...I
*
70
(Vlli)
D...L Hum, hum well, and what
are your complaints of me ?
Cru. Why, that you have made me a strange whimsical, inconsistent Being, in ^ three Weeks losing all the Religion of a 5 Pious Education; and when 3'OU bring me again to a Sense of the Want of Reli- gion, you make me quit that upon every Whimsy ; \'ou make me extravagantly Zealous, and as extravagantly Remiss; you ^^ make me an Enem\^ to all English Sailors, and a Panegj^rist upon all other Sailors that come in your wa\' : Thus, all the English Seamen laugh'd me out of Religion, but the Spanish and Portuguese Sailors were '5 honest religious Fellows; you make me a Protestant in London, and a Papist in Bra- sil; and then again, a Protestant in my own Island, and when I get thence, the onl}^ Thing that deters me from return- ^o ing to Brasil, is meerly, because I did not like to die a Papist; for you say, that Po- pery may be a good Religion io live in, but not to die in: as if that Religion could be good to live in, which was not good to 25 die in; for. Father D..J, whatever you may think, no Man is sure of living one Minute. But tho' 30U keep me thus by Force a Sort of Protestant, yet, you all along make me ver\' fond of Popish Priests 2^ * and the Popish Religion; nor can I for- give vou the making; me such a Whim-
sical
*
*
-ti-
n
(ix)
sical Dog, to ramble over three Parts of the World after I was sixty five. There- fore, I say, Friday, prepare to shoot.
Fri. No shoot yet Master, me have something to say, he much Injure me too. 5
D...I. Injure you too, how the Devil iiave I mjur d your
Fri. 'Have ' injure me, to make me such Blockhead, so much contradiction,
well in a Month or tw£>^- and .not to speak at better in , twelve . Years after; to make me go out to be kill'd by the Savages, only to be a Spokesman to them, tho' I did not know, whether they understood ^5 one Word of my Language ; for you must know, Father D...u, that almost ev'ry Nation of us Indians speak a diffe- rent Language. Now Master shall me shoot ? 2o
Cru. No Friday, not yet, for here will be several more of his Children with Complaints against him; here will be the French Priest, Will Atkins, the Priest in China, his Nephews Ship's Crew, and — ^S
D...I. Hold, hold, dear Son Crusoe, nold, let me satisfy- 3'ou first before anj^ m.ore come upon me. You are my Hero, I have made you, out of no- thing, fam'd from. Tnttle-Strect to Lime- 30 house - hole: there is not an old Woman that can go to the Price of it, but buys
thv
72
(X)
thy Life and Adventures, and leaves it
* as a Legacy, with the Pilgrims Progress,
* the Practice of Piety, and God's Revenge against Murthcr, to her Posterity.
Cm. Your Hero ! Your Mob Hero ! 5
* your Pyecorner Hero ! on a foot with ''' Guy of Warwick, Bevis of Southampton, '•' and the London Prentice! for M..w..r
has put me in that Rank, and drawn me much better; therefore, Sir, I say '^
D...I. Dear Son Crusoe, be not in a Passion, hear me out.
Cm. Well, Sir, I will hear you out for once.
D...I. Then know, my dear Child, •> that you are a greater Favorite to me than you imagine; 3'ou are the true Al-
* legorick Image of thy tender Father D...I; 1 drew thee from the considera- tion of my own Mind; 1 have been all ' 20 my Life that Rambling , Inconsistent Creature, which I have made thee.
* I set out under the Banner of Kidder- minster, and was long a noisy, if not zealous Champion for that Cause; and ^5
* tho' I had not that Free -school and House ^ Learning which I have given you, yet being endow 'd with a wonderful Loqua- ciousness and a prett\- handsome Assu-
* ranee, being out of ni}^ Time, I talk'd 3'^ '■' myself into a pretty large Credit, by which
I might, perhaps, have thriv'd in my
Way
73
*
[Xll
Way very well, but, like you at Brasil my Head run upon Whimsies, and I quitted a Certainty for new Adven- tures : First, I set up for Scribbling of Verses, and dabbling in other Sort of Au- 5 thorizing, both Religious and Prophane. I have no Call to tell you, whether this Itch of Scribbling, or some other Project of Lime Kilns or the like, oblig'd me to quit a certain Court near the Royal-Ex- '" change, and to play at Hide and Seek; but this did not much trouble me, for it put me on a Sort of diving more agree- able to my Inclinations, forcing me to ramble from Place to Place Incognito; '5 and, indeed, I thought myself something like the great Monarchs of the East , for I took care to be more seldom seen by my Acquaintance, than they by their Subjects. My old Walk from niy Court -" to the Change was too short for my rambling Spirit, it look'd like a Seaman's W^alk betwixt Decks ; and for that, and some other Reasons which shall be name- less, I pursu'd the Course which I told -5 you.
Well, all my Projects failing, I e'en took up with the Vocation of an Author, which tho' it promis'd but little in the common Way, I took care to make it 3" more Beneficial to me; the principal Method of doing that, was to appear zea- lous
74
•J:
(xii)
lous for some Party, anfl in the Party I was soon determin'd by my Education, and scribbled on in a violent Manner; till, b}'- making myself a constant Pensioner to all the Rich and Zealous of my Party, 5 I pickt up a good handsome Penny, with little Expence to n^self of Time or La- bour; for an}^ Thing that is boldly Writ, will go down with either Party; but at last, by a plaguy Irony, I got myself in- 'o to the damnable Nutcrackers; however, that but encreas'd my Market, and brought ni}' Pension in, at least, five fold. I writ on, till some of the wise Heads of the contrary Party thought '5 me v\'orth retaining in their Ser - vice; and, I confess, their Bribes were very powerful. I manag'd Matters so well a great while, that both Sides kept me in Pay; but that would not do, my ^o old Friends found that I had in reality forsaken them, and that I trim'd my Boat so ill, that they plainly saw to which Side it inclin'd ; and, therefore, a certain Captain not far from Thames Street, 25 who had been my Steward or Collector in chief, comes to me, and like the Witch of Endor, cried, God has left thee, Saul; that is, the Money would be no more oiven me b3^ the Party, who had every 3^ one discover'd that I v;as enter'd into another Cause. I did all I could to satis-
fy
75 (xiiij
fy him and answer his Objections, but all
* to no purpose, Buenos Nocoius was the Word, good Night Nicholas, they would be no longer bubbled ; so I set out entirely for St. Germans or any other Port to 5 which mj^ Proprietors should direct me ; but here again, like you, my Son Crusoe, in burning the Idol in Tartary, I went a little too far, and by another Irony, in- stead of the Nutcrackers, I had brought '» myself to the Tripos at Paddington, but that
* my good Friend that set me to work got me a Pardon, and so, safe was the Word ;
* and I have never forsaken him for that good Office — and his Money, my '5 dear Son Crusoe, for it is that which al- ways sets me to Work ; and which ever Side the most Money is to be got, that
* Side is sure of D...I. 'Tis true, I made a pretty good Penn}- among the Whigs, tho' -" nothing to what I have since done among
the Tories : Let me see, let me see, I think, 1 made by Subscription for my Jure Divino about some five hundred Pounds, and yet I writ it in about three Weeks or a ^' Month, six or seven hundred Verses a Day coming constantly out of this Pro- lifick Plead ; as for the vSense and Poe- try of them, e'en let m}^ Subscribers look to that ; they had a Book, and a Book 3° in Folio, and I had .their Money, and so all Parties were contented. But what's
b 2 this
*
;6
(xiv)
tliis to the Tory Writers, where for a Translation one shall get you three or four thousand Pounds subscrib'd ; and for an Original, seven or eight Thousand ; the Tories therefore for m\- Money ; not that I 5 value the Tories more than I do the Whigs ; but nothing for the Whigs will sell, and every Thing for the Tories does. You seem to take it amiss, that I made you speak against the English Sea- ^° men, but that was only according to my
■' own Nature, for I always hated the Eng- lish, and took a Pleasure in depreciating and villifying of them, witness my True Born Englishman, and my changing my '5
'' Name to make it sound like French ; for my Father's Name w^as plain F..e, but I have adorn 'd it with a de, so that I am now, Mr D...I De F..e. Next, you seem concern 'd that I make 3'OU so favour- 20 able to Popery, and to ramble at such an Age about the World : First, you must know, that by speaking favourably of Popery, I lay up a Friend in a Corner, and make all of that Religion favourable 25 to me and what I write ; and should the Fox Hunters prevail, that Religion must be the Mode ; if it never does, I at least pass for a Moderate Man both with the Papists and Protestant Fox Hunters ; and 3° to give them the better Idea of me, and the surer Hopes of having me a Convert,
I have
77.
(XV)
* I have written against my old Teachers
* in the Shape and Form of a Quaker, as in a Pamphlet to T . B. a Dealer in many Words ; and in the same Form I have at-
* tack'd the B — of B — , one who is 5 equally hated by them. To tell you the
"•' Truth, Son Crusoe, tho' I am now pass'd sixty five, I am just setting out for a Ram- ble thro' all Religions, and therefore li-
* quor my Boots first with Holy Water and '° the Sacred Unctions of Popery ; and next,
'■'' I don't know but I may step to Mahome- "■'' tism, and take a Trip with Tom Coryat to the Great Moguls country, from thence, perhaps, I may turn down to Siam ^5 and China, and make a sort of a Break- fast upon the Mnltitheism of those Coun- tries.
Cru. Multiiheism, Father D — n, why not Polytheism? why do you chuse rather ^o to coin a Word compounded of Greek and Latin, whereas the other is in com- mon Use ?
D...L Common ; I hate all that's com- mon, even to common Sense — but no -5 Interruptions Son Crusoe, no Interruptions ; from thence I may take a Jaunt to the
* Greek Church, in a sort of Whimsical Ca- ravan, over the Desarts which I made you pass, if by the way I don't happen to catch 3^ a Tartar, that is, take a Leap into the Dark. By this Ramble thro' all Reli- gions,
*
(xvi)
gions, I shall be tlioroughh-' qualified for wliatever Side may come uppermost,
* whether the Spanish luquisitiou, the Jane- saries of Mecca, or any other Propagators
* of particular Religions ; for betwixt you 5
* and I, Son Crusoe, I care not who Reigns, whether the Czar of Muscovy, or the
* Emperor of Monomotopa. I defy them to set up an}' Religion, to oppose which
I will be at the Pain of so much as a Flea- ^^ bite. And now you have my Picture, Son Crusoe, as well as my Justification in my Draught of 3'ours ; I would not liave you therefore complain any more of the Con- tradiction of 3-our character, since that is ^5 of a Piece with the whole Design of my Book. I make you set out as undutiful and disobedient to your Parents ; and to
* make your Example deter all others, I make you Fortunate in all 3'our Adven- -^
* tures, even in the most unlucky, and give you at last a plentiful Fortune and a safe Retreat, Punishments so terrible, that sure the Fear of them must deter all others from Disobedience to Parents, and 25 venturing to Sea : And now, as for you Friday, I did not make you speak .broken Eni'^fsivto represent- you as a Bloclvhead^-ijii-
' capable of learning to speak, it better, but" meerly for the .Variety -of Stile, to inter- 3°
* mix ■some'"broken English to make my Lie go down tr.e more glibly with the
Vul-
79 (xvii)
Vulgar Reader ; and in this, I use you no
* worse than I do the Bible itself, which I quote for the very same End only.
Cm. Enough, Enough, Father D — n, you have confest enough, and now pre- S pare for your Punishment, for here come
* all the rest of our Number which we ex- pected; come Friday, pull out the Books, you have both Volumes, have you not Friday ? lo
Fri. Yes Master, and me will make him swallow his own Vomit. ""'' Cru. Here, Gentlemen, every one hold a Lirnb of him.
D...I. Oh, Oh, Mercy ! Mercy ! ^5
Fri. Swallow, swallow, Father D — n, your Writings be good for the Heartburn, swallow, Father D — n — so me have cram'd down one Volume, must he have the other now Master ? 20
Cru. Yes, yes, Friday, or else the Dose will not be compleat, and so perhaps mayn't work and pass thro' him kindly.
Fri. Come, Father D — n, t'other Pill,
* or I think I may call it Bolus for the big- 25 ness of it, it is good for your Health ;
* come, if 3'ou will make such large Com- positions, you must take them for your Pains.
D..I. Oh, oh, oh, oh. 3^
Cru. Now, gentlemen, each Man take his Part of the Blanket and toss him im- moderately ;
8o
(xviii)
iiioderateh' ; for 3'ou must know, Gen- tlemen, that this is a sort of Physick, which never works well without a vio- lent Motion. [77^^^ toss him lustily,
he crying out all the while. 5
Cni. Hold, Gentlemen, I think our Business is done ; for by the unsavoury Stench which assaults my Nostrils, I find the Dose is past thro' him, and so good Morrow, P\ither D — ii. Fast three a '" clock and a Moo)i light Morning. [They
all vanish. D...1 solus.
Bless me ! what Company have I been in? or rather, what Dream have I had? '5 for certainly 'tis nothing but a Dream ; and yet I find by the Effects in my Breeches, that I was most damnably frighted with this Dream ; nay, more than ever I was in my Life ; even more, than -^ when we had News that King William design 'd to take into Flanders the Royal Regiment. But this is a fresh Proof of my Obsen-ation in the second Volume of m^' Crusoe, that there's no greater Evidence -5 of an invisible World, than that Connexion betwixt second Causes, (as that in my Trowsers) and those Ideas we have in our Minds.
The End of the Dialogue.
8i
*■
AN
B P I S T L B
TO
D D' F...e,
The Reputed Author
OF
Robinson Crusoe,
Mr F — e.
Have perus'd your pleasant Stor\^ of Robinson Crusoe ; and if the Faults of it had extend- ed no farther than the fre-
quent Solecisms, Looseness and Incorrect- ness of Stile, Improbabilities, and some- times Impossibilities, I had :iot given
B vou
lO
*
•8->
(2)
you the Trouble of this Epistle. But when I found that \'ou were not content with the many Absurdities of your Tale, but seem'd to discover a Design, which
"■^' proves j-^ou as bad an Englishman as a 5 Christian, I could not but take Notice in this publick Manner of what 3^ou had written; especially when I perceiv 'd that
* 3'ou threaten 'd us with more of the same
Nature, if this met with that Success ^° which \^ou hop'd for, and which the Town has been pleas 'd to give it. If b}- this I can prevent a new Accession of Impieties and Superstition to those which the Work under our Consideration has ^5 furnish 'd us with, I shall not think my Labour lost.
I am far from being an Enemy to the , Writers of Fables, since I know very well that this Manner of Writing is not ^o
'•' onl}' very Ancient, but very useful, I might say sacred, since it has been made use of by the inspir'd Writers themselves ; but then to render any Fable worthy of being receiv'd into the Number of those 25 which are trul}^ valuable, it must natu- rally produce in its Event some useful Moral, either express 'd or understood ; but this of Robinson Crusoe, you plainly inculcate, is design 'd against a publick 3° good. I think there can be no Man so
ignorant
*
(3)
ignorant as not to know that our Navi- gation produces both our Safety, and our Riches, and that whoever therefore shall endeavour to discourage this, is so far a prof est Enemy of his Country's Prospe- 5 rity and Safety ; but the Author of Ro- binson Crusoe, not only in the Beginning, but in many Places of the Book, employs all the Force of his little Rhetoric to dissuade and deter all People from going ^° to Sea, especially all Mothers of Chil- dren who may be capable of that Service, from venturing them to so much Hazard and so much Wickedness, as he repre- sents the Seafaring Life liable to. But ^5 v/hatever Mr F — e may think of the Matter, I dare believe that there are few Men who consider justly, that would
* think the Profession of a Yorkshire Attor- ney more innocent and beneficial to Man- ^o kind than that of a Seaman, or would judge that Robinson Crusoe was so ver}^ criminal in rejecting the former, and
* chusing the latter, as to provoke the
* Divine Providence to raise two Storms, -5 and in the last of them to destroy so ma- ny Ships and Men, purely to deter him from that Course of Life, to which at last he was to owe so ample a Revv^ard of
all his Labours and Fatigues, as the End 3°
of
B2
84
(4)
of this very Book plainly tells us lie met with.
'■■■ I know you will reply, that it was his Disobedience to his Parents, for which he was punish 'd in all the Misfortunes he 5
''■ met with, and that you frequently re- mind us of the Conviction of his Con- science in this Particular thro' the whole Course of his Life. I would by no
* Means be thought to encourage Disobe- ''> dience to Parents ; but the honouring our Father and Mother does not include a Duty of blindly submitting to all their Commands, whether good or bad, ra- tional or irrational, to the entire exclu- '5 ding of all Manner of free Agency from the Children, which would in effect be to make the Children of Freemen abso- lute Slaves, and give the Parent a Power even beyond that of a Sovereign, to whom both Parents and Children are subject. Tho' the Authority therefore of Parents be great, it cannot extend to the Suppression of our Obedience to Reason, Law and Religion ; and when a Child 25 obeys these, tho' contrary to his Parents Command, he is not to be esteem'd dis- obedient or culpable. To apply this to the Case in Hand, Robinson Crusoe was
'■■■ above eighteen Years of Age when he 3» left his Father's House, and this after a
long
20
85
(5)
long Deliberation and Struggle with that secret Impulse to a Seafaring Life,
* to which Impulse you so often recom- mend a blind Obedience, whether ground- ed on Reason or not, and would perswade 5 us that it proceeds from the secret Inspira- tion either of Providence or some good Spirit; but here Robinson had a great ma- ny Reasons to urge and justify himself; for notwithstanding the wise Harangue of the '^ Father to the Son of the great Advan- tages of a middle State of Life; yet I cannot find that he himself thought that what he was to leave his Son would be sufficient to support him in that middle '5
* State, on which he had made so te- dious an Encomium; for he propos'd to
* put him out either to some Trade or to an Attorney. But first, as to a Trade, either he propos'd to put him to a bene- -° ficial Trade, or to one that was not so;
if to a beneficial Trade, then he depart- ed from his own Principle of a Medio- crity; if to a Trade that was not so, his Design was extremely foolish, since the ^S Cares and Solicitudes of that mean Pro- fession might prove, and would in pro- bability be as great, if not greater, than those of a more beneficial Employment; and this, indeed, would be contrary to 3° the Design and Aim of all People who
put
^
86
(6)
put their Children to Trades, since they always propose and hope, that the Trades to which they put them will in the end make them Rich and Prosperous. If this was his Father's Design in putting 5 him to a Trade, he acted directly against the principle he laid down, of being con- tented with what they had; if it was not his Design, he acted confessedly without Reason, and therefore could not reasona- »o bly desire an implicit Obedience to his Will : But if instead of a Trade he de- sign'd his Son for an Attorney, a con- scientious youth might well scruple to obey him in that particular. You have ^5 given him the Education of a Free- School, besides House Learning, as j^ou are pleas 'd to call it ; which I confess I never met with before in all my Reading 20 and Conversation ; but by a Free-School Education till eighteen years of Age he must have been perfect in all the Clas- sicks, and fit for the University; and his Conversation with those Books might 25 well inspire him with Notions abhorrent of a Profession in which there was nothing generous, and I am afraid ver^^ little just. But because you have said it^ we will suppose that Robinson Crusoe was not de- 3° ter'd from being an Attorney by any of
these
S7
(7)
these more noble Considerations, but by a pure rambling Fancy, which render 'd him incapable of taking up any Profes- sion that was more confin'd than that of a
* Seafaring Person; yet, how could he ima- 5 gine that he should raise his Fortune by going: to Sea in the Manner that he went? that is, indeed, as a common Seaman, contrary to his Friends Inclination, or any Provision made by himself to turn and '" improve by his Navigation ; but this Difficulty vanishes, when we remember what you tell us from his own Mouth,
* that he never was in the right in his
* Life. Omitting, therefore, the Oddness '5 of his running away at so well grown
an Age, tho' he had not done it in his more early and giddy Years, we'll pro- ceed : He is now set out, arriv'd at Hull, and got on Board a Ship, without so =^
* much as ever saying one Word to the Master of her, who we must suppose ne- ver saw him for about three Weeks, till, after his Ship was cast away, he met him
in Yarmouth, and was there inform'd b^^ -'-
* his Son, who, and what he was; tho' presently after he had heard this, he asks him, who, and what he was, as if he had known nothing of the Matter ; and
* plainly tells him that his Ship was cast y- away upon his Account , making his
Case
8S
fS)
" Case and that of Jonas the same, who was actually in Disobedience to the posi- tive Command and Order of God him- self. But you, indeed, every where are pleas 'd to make very free with the Holy 5
■' Scriptures, which 3^ou quote as fluently,
•' as the Devil once did, and much to the same End; that is, to make a Lie go down for Truth. But more of this here- after. Well, the Master of the Ship having ^° now understood who and what he was,
•' makes this fine Speech to him : And, young Man, said he, depend upoyi it, if you do not go hack, zvhere-ever you go, you will meet with nothing hut Disasters and Disap- '5 pointnients , till your Father's Words are ful-
=•■ fill'd upon you. Here he makes the Mas-
'•' ter of the Ship a Prophet, as well as he had done his Father, which I should as little suspect him to be, considering the ^o wicked Character you give of all Seamen, as that a profest Seaman should make a Speech, and urge the Storms for a Mo- tive against any one's going to Sea. But I must not dwell too long upon mere Ab- 25 surdities, I shall therefore take no No-
•■ tice of Robinson's swooning away at the Noise of a Gun, tho' he knew not for what End the Gun was discharg'd; yet I cannot pass in Silence his Coining of 3° Providences; that is, of his making Pro- vidence
*
*
89
(9)
vidence raise a Storm, cast away some Snips, and damage many more, meerly to fright him from going to Sea. If this be not a bold Impiety, I know not what is, and an Impiet}^ for which I can see 5 very little ground; for why should he imagine that the Storm was sent to hin- der him from going to Sea, more than any other that were in it, and suffer 'd more by it ? Nor, indeed, can I see any ^° reason why your Crusoe should think it any more a Crime in him to go to Sea, than in a hundred and fifty thousand more, who constantly use the Sea in these Nations, besides ten times that Num- "5 ber in all the Nations of the World who do the same. If Storms are sent by Providence to deter Men from Naviga- tion, I may reasonably suppose, that there is not one of all that vast Num- ^o ber I have mention 'd, to whom Provi- dence has not sent the same Warning. At this absurd Way of Arguing most of the Communication and Traffick of Na- tions would soon be at an end, and Islan- 25 ders especially would be entirely cut off from the rest of the World; and if your Doctrine prevail' d , none would venture upon Salt Water, but such as cared not for the Safet}^ either of Body or 3° Soul , both which you all along en-
C deavour
*
90
(lO)
deavour to perswade us are more in dan- ger there than any where else. But sure, dear Sir, you have neither consider'd the Wickedness, nor the Hazards of the Land ; for if you had, you would find that it 5 was morally impossible that the Seamen, at least, while on Shipboard, could be guilty of the tenth part of the Crimes which abound every where on Shore, For the Seaman, however wicked he may io> be in his Will, has not the Power in his floating Castle to reduce that Wicked- ness to Action; and to conclude that be is so wicked in Will, requires some bet- ter Proof than you have been pleas 'd any '5 where to give us. It is plain, that the Seafaring Men are generally (for here we speak only of Generals, and not of Parti- culars) generally, I say, are more free, open, disinterested, and less tricking and ^"^ designing than those who never go to Sea; and tho' you are pleas 'd often to mention the Wickedness of Crusoe, whom, being a Creature of your own, j^ou might have made as wicked as you pleas 'd : This -5 very Crusoe, I say, does not appear to be guilty of any heinous Crimes; and it would be very hard to perswade us to believe, that a Man, who seems in all Things else innocent enough, should be 3° so very abandoned in Im.piet}?-, as ne- ver
91
(II)
ver to pray and acknowledge the over- ruling Providence of God in all the Transactions of this World; and by con- sequence in all that did or could hap- pen to him. But after all, if you will 5 needs have him this impious Person; for he is a Creature of your making, and not of God's ; you have given him Manners, as the Critics call it, quite out of Na- ""''' ture, and no ways necessary to j-our Fable. ^^
* But more of this hereafter.
* We must now attend Monsieur Crusoe from Yarmouth to London, where he ar- rives with that small remainder of his
'•' Yarmouth Collection he had left; and ^5 tho' a Stranger in this great City, the
* next thing we hear of him, is, that he abounds in fine Cloaths and Money, be- ing able to put on board the Guinea Man a Venture of forty Pounds, which 20
^' how he comes by the Lord knows. He tells us, indeed, some time after, that he got this Mone}^ of his Friends; but it is not very probable, at least it is not very common, for People that have Money, 25 to trust it to a young Fellow who had run from his Father, and was likewise under Age. This I say is not common; na}^ I believe, never did happen to any Body in his Circumstances, but to Ro- 3» hinson Crusoe, and maj^ well be put into
C2 the
92
*
(12)
the Number of the Miracles of his Life. Well, we'll suppose, with Robinson him- self, that his Father secretly encourag'd his Friends to supply him; yet certainly his Father would have been very cautious 5 of letting him be entrusted with Money entirel3^ to manage it himself, since he h^d given him no Reason to imagine that his Prudence would dispose of it to the best Advantage; and, indeed, it was '° very plain that he did not, since he laid it out in fine Cloaths, and keeping Com- pany with such People, from whom he could propose to derive very little Bene- fit : And, I believe, he is the first 3'oung '5 Gentleman that ever thought, that to see the World by Travel, was to go to Guinea amongst the barbarous Negroes. Well, let that pass, Crusoe has found a Master of a Vessel according to his own -^ Heart, and so embarks both his Cargo and himself with him for Guinea, makes a prosperous Voyage, his fortj^ Pounds having produc ' d about three hundred ; two of which he puts into a Female ^5 Friend's Hand, and with the third sets out for a second Voyage to the African Shore, but is taken by a Turkish Rover and carried into Sallee; where, after he had remain ' d in Bondage above two 3° Years, he makes his escape by throw- ing
93
*
*
*
*
(13)
* ing his Master's Kinsman into the Sea and carrying off his Master's Boat, a Kind of Long-Boat, and his Boy Xury ; and in this small Vessel goes above a thousand
* Miles thro' various Hazards and Adven- 5 tures, to which I have nothing to say.
All that I shall remark, is, that you seem very fond of all Occasions of throv^^- ing in needless Absurdities to make the Truth of your Story still the more doubt- '« ed. What occasion else had you to make Xury speak broken English, when he ne- ver con vers 'd with any English but Ro- binson Crusoe f so that it had been more natural to have made Robinson speak '5 broken Arabick, which Language he must be forc'd in some Measure to learn ; whereas Xury had no motive in the World to study so much English as he makes him speak ; but this is a Pecca- ^o dillo and not worth dwelling upon. Well then, we are now to suppose Robinson Crusoe and Xury got as far almost as Cape de Verd, when a Portuguese Ship takes them up and carries them to Brasil ; where, with the Money he had rais'd by the Sale of his Boat, his Skins, and his Boy, he settles himself as a Planter, and accordingly turns Papist in Thankfulness to Heaven for his great Deliverance; and, indeed, he alwa3^s retains some Spice of
the
-5
94
(14)
the Superstition of that Religion, in that \'ain l^aith, which he not only himself '*' puts in secret Hints, as he calls them, but earnestly recommends to all others. Well, having fix'd his Plantation, he 5 sets out upon new Adventures, as Super- cargo to a Portuguese Ship, bound to the Coast of Guinea to bu}'' Slaves ; and tho' he afterwards proves so scrupulous about falling upon the Cannibals or Men- '^ Eaters, j^et he neither then nor after- wards found any check of Conscience in
* that infamous Trade of buying and sel- ling of Men for Slaves ; else one would have expected him to have attributed '5 his Shipwreck to this very Cause.
He sets out from Brasil, is taken in a Storm, and at last cast away upon an un- inhabited Island in the Mouth of the Ri- ver Oroonoque ; where he only escapes, all 20 the rest being drown 'd. But here I can't omit one Observation of his, which is, that the Waves buried him twenty or thirty Foot in their own Body ; I would
* fain know by what Art Robinson could 25 distinguish between five Foot, and twen- ty five or thirty. Well, be that as it will, your Friend Robinson is now got
on Shore, tho' bruised in Body and trou- bled in Mind ; and had, indeed, been in 3° a very pitiful Condition, had not you
the
95
(15)
the next Day sent the Ship on Shore af- ter him ; I mean, so near the Shore, that Robinson could easily get on Board her, and furnish himself with all Necessaries which his solitary Mansion requir'd ; that 5 is, with Tools, Powder, Guns, Cutlasses, Bullets, and other Shot, and Lead to make more, as well as Cloaths, Linnen and Woollen ; besides so large a Car- go of Rum, that it lasted him, uncon- 'o sum'd, above eight and twenty years. The' I should have wonder'd how three English Bible came on Board a Portu- guese Ship, had he not told us, that they had come to him in a cargo from ^5 England ; yet I must still wonder, why Robinson should put three on Board for his Voyage to Guinea, when one was likely to be more than he would make use of, if we may believe his own Account ^o of the little regard he had to anj^ Reli- gion. But it was necessary that he should have a Bible, to furnish you with the Means of Burlesquing the Sacred Writ, in the tedious Reflections you design 'd to -s put into his Mouth ; of which by and by.
I shall not take Notice of his striping himself to swim on Board, and then fil- ling his Pockets with Bisket, because that is already taken Notice of in Pub- 3o lick ; and in the last Edition, at least, of
the
96
(.i6)
the Book, you have endeavour *d to salve this Difhcult}', by making him keep his Breeches on ; tho' why he should do so I can see no reason ; and tho' he did do so, I don't lind how the Pocket of a Sea- 5
* man's Breeches could receive any Biskets, that bein<^ generallv no bii>Q:er than to con- tain a Tobacco Pouch, or the like. I can- not pretend to dwell upon all the Absur- dities of this Part of your Book, I shall ^^ only touch upon some few : And first, on
his stated Account of the Good and
* Evil of his present Condition in Page "j"] , v/here he says, on the dark side of his Account, / have no CloatJis to cover me. '5
* But this is a downright Lie, according to his own Account, by which he brought a considerable Quantity of Linnen and Woollen from on Board the Ship : And then the next Head on the same side is, ^o / am zvithoiit any Defence, or Means to re- sist any Violence of Man or Beast. This is likewise another plain Contradiction of what he told us before, when he let us know, that he had brought on Shore two 25 or three Barrels of Gunpowder, six or se- ven Guns, and several Pistols, with Shot and Bullets, besides Swords, Axes, Hatchets, etc. Next, I must observe, that
* Robinson, like ether great Wits, has but 30
* a ver}' short Memory ; for in Page 66, he
tells
■:!:
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tells us, that the Storm had carried the Wreck or Ship quite out of sight ; or, as he expresses it, It blew very hard all that Night, and in the Morning when I looked out, behold no more Ship zvas to be seen ; 5 and yet six Months after, he tells us, that looking towards the Wreck, it lay higher out of the Water than it us'd to do. I think the Contradiction is pretty plain, if seeing a Thing and not seeing it be a ^o Contradiction.
Not to examine too nicely into Parti- culars ; I shall pass on to Page 155, where he again falls foul upon the Seamen and a Seafaring Life. But, alas I falling ^5 early into the Seafaring Life, which of all the Lives is most destitute of the Fear of God, tho' his Terrors are always before them; I say, falling early into a Seafaring Life, and into Seafaring Company, all that 20 little Sense of Religion which I had enter- tained, zvas laugh'd out of me by my Mess- mates, by a hardened despising of Dangers, and the Views of Death, which grew ha- bitual to me by my long Absence from all ^s manner of Opportunities to converse with any thing but what was like myself, or to hear anything that was good or tended towards it.
I have transcribed these Words of 5'our Hero, honest D — n , that I may show 3^5 vou what an ungrateful and lying Rascal
D h€
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he is; ungrateful in his Return of so many Favours and so much Honesty, which he had receiv'd from the Masters of both
* the Portuguese and English Ships. He be- spatters the whole Body of Seafaring Men, 5 as a Company of impious Rogues, nay the most impious and abandon 'd of all Man- kind; and as for his Lying, it is plain, from
his charging them all with profest Infideli- ty, and particulary of laughing him out "> his Fear of God; when, if we may give Credit to his own Narration, he ne- ver kept Company with Seamen above three Weeks in all his Life, and that was from Hull to Yarmouth; and even those '5 Seamen, Master and all included, sent up their Prayers to Heaven in their Dis- tress. But was Robinson Crusoe's Religion so very little settled in him, by his Free- School and House Learning, even at ^o eighteen Years of Age, as to be laugh'd
* out of it in three Weeks time b}^ a Com- pany of ignorant Seamen ? They might perhaps laugh at his Fear of the Storm, they being made intrepid upon that Account ^S by Use. But, honest D — n, I am afraid, with all your Sagaciousness, you do not sufficiently distinguish between the Fear of God, and the Fear of Danger to your own dear Carcass. The Fear of God is 3o an Excellence, a Virtue, a Duty; and, as
the
*
5jC
*
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* the Holy Scripture says, the Beginning of Wisdom ; but the Fear of Danger is
* mean , scandalous , unmanly, a Vice , and the Beginning of Folly; and, indeed, incompatible with that Fear of God, of 5 which 3''ou have talk'd so much. Forti- tude is by all acknovvledg'd a Virtue, and of that Intrepidity is likewise ac- knowledg'd a considerable Part; and from hence flows that contempt of Danger, ^° which you seem to impute to a want of
the Fear of God; whereas, it may with much more Justice, be deriv'd from a firm Confidence in, or a perfect Resigna- tion to the Divine Providence in all its '5 Dispensations. It is, indeed, as I have observ'd, plain, that you are very much mistaken in your Notion of the Fear of God, v/hich is a sort of a Filial Awe
* not only consistent with Love, but, in- ^o deed, a Child of it ; for Love makes every one, who is possess 'd by it, afraid
of being guilty of any Thoughts or Ac- tions, which may be displeasing or of- fensive to the Object belov'd; and this 25 you would be very sensible of, if in all
* your Life you had ever lov'd any thing better than yourself. But the Fear, which you contend for, is a meer abject, wo-
* manish Pusillanimity, or rank Cowardice 3^
D 2 per-
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perpetually terriried with those Acci- dents which all sublunary Things are na- turally subject to : a Fear, that has been the Mother of all the most dreadful Mis- chiefs to which Mankind has ow'd c{reat 5 Part cf liis Unhappiness. It has produced both private and publick 3iurders, De- vastations and Ruin of Nations and Peo- ple; for to this may we justly attribute the inhuman Barbarities cf the Spaniards ^° in the West-Indies, who, stimulated by this Fury, destroy 'd above one and twen- ty Millions of People according to their own Writers : This Fear is the Ground and Origin of all, or most of our Re- '5 venges; our supplanting one another, and all that Injustice and Dishonesty which is too visible in the Transactions of the World : This Fear, therefore, being but too much spread thro' Humankind, it has 20 been the Care and Study of the Wise and Good of all Polite Nations to root it as much as possible out of the Mind, or at least so far to abate it, as to render its Effect less fatal to our Happiness, And -S yet this is the Fear which j^ou endeavour to establish as the Fear of God, and measure the Piet}'' and Impiety of Men, by the Share that they have of this; as if Cowards only could be good Chris- 3» tians. But to return to Crusoe, at his
coming
lOI
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coming to Town, he says, lie fell into very good Company, and among the rest, into the Acquaintance of a Master of a Guinea Ship, who was extreamly pleas 'd * with iiis Conversation ; which, as he 5 tells us himself, was not at that time to be despis'd. Well, he goes to Guinea v/ith this honest Caotain, was his Mess- mate, and learnt of him during his Voyage the Art of Navigation; so that ^^ he could not have so much Time upon his Hands, as to be laugh 'd out of his Religion in his Conversation with the Common Seamen; nor do I think he had the ■ Opportunity of knowing their Senti- ^5 ments in this Particular. It must there- fore be the Captain and his Mate, who learnt liim to despise God and Religion; and he must have a strange Alacrity in Sinking, if he could fall from those set- ^o tied Notions, that a Religious Education must needs have fixt in him, in one Voyage to Gitinca; for this is the only tim.e, except the Hnll Vo^-age, that he had convers'd with Seafaring Men. But ^S if this were true, he ought not to lay the Crime of the Captain and his Mate upon all the Body of Seamen, since no Logick v/ill ever allow arguing from a Particular to a General ; and as it is bad Logick, so 3° it is worse Religion , to lav the Crime of
Two
*
*
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Two upon a Million. Early in his next voyage he is taken by the Salleetnan; and for the greatest Part of his fourth Voyage, he had no Companion but poor Xury. The Remainder of this Voyage he 5 made in a Portuguese Ship, to the Master of which he ow'd, not only his Life then, but his Riches afterwards; and he was too
* ignorant of the Portuguese Tongue, to make any Discovery of the Vices of that ^*^ Ship's Crew, or of being corrupted by
* them; nor could he in his fifth Voyage from Brasil, to the Time of his being cast awa3v', furnish himself with any fresh
* Observations of this Kind, they being for '5 the most part in that Storm which brought on their Shipwreck, in which he
* onl}^ escap'd. So that upon the whole, we find that Robinson Crusoe, even when
he pretends to repent, is for throwing ^o the Guilt of his Sin upon others, who, as far as we can possibly discover, did not at all deserve the Charge; and 1 dare believe, that he was in reality the only Person among them, who ever liv'd ^S so many Years without saying his Prayers, or acknowledging God and his Provi- dence, and is likely therefore rather to have been the Corrupter, than the Cor- rupted. But it seems he is not yet come 3° so forward towards a true Repentance,
as
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as to take the whole Guilt on himself, which in reality no Bod}^ else had any Share in. He says, indeed, his Repen- tance was hinder 'd by his Conversation with none but such as were worse than 5 himself, and where he never heard men- tion of any thing that was good. But, dear D — n, this seems another gross Fib of your Friend Robinson, as I hope I have sufiicientiy prov'd in what .1 have said up- ^° on this Head. I have been longer than I design 'd upon these Remarks, and there- fore shall onh' transiently touch upon some few Occurrences of your Book : And tho' Nonsense be too frequent thro' the '5 whole to merit a particular Remark as often as it occurs, I can't pass over this in Page 164 : And now I saw how easy it was for the Providence of God to make the most miserable Condition, Mankind 20 could be in, worse. How% Friend D — nl Worse than the worst, I thought, that be- yond the superlative Degree there was nothing; I am sure that Robinson' s School Learning could not teach him this, per- 25 haps he had it from his House Learning, with all the other false Grammar, which is to be found almost in every Page, par- ticulary the Nominative Case perpetually put for the Accusative, But this is not 30 v/orth stopping;' at. To proceed therefore :
Tho'
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* Tlio' I canr.ot see how he could let the Goat out of the Pit, when he says it was so fierce that he durst not come near it ; yet let that pass. He tells us, that he went
* out for five or six Da3's; he would have 5 done well to have satisfied us, not only
* how he carried his Provisions for that long Time, but also what became of his
"■'' Goats, who were not milk'd in so many
* Days; whereas he afterwards tells us, '^ that three Days Absence had lik'd to have sipoil'd them on that very Account ; he would have done likewise well, to have given his Reasons why he thought the Sa-
* vages more dangerous than the Devil. '5
Tho' I have a great deal to say upon his Reflections, and their frequent Repe- tition almost in the same Words; yet for Brevity Sake, I shall sa}^ of them all, that
* the}'' seem brought in only to encrease the ^o Bulk of your Book; they are seldom Just
or truly Religious; but they have this terrible Circumstance, that they demon- strate that the Author has not the Fear of
* God before his Eyes. Ludere cum Sacris ^s is what he has not at all scrupl'd; as if he esteem 'd it no Crime to set off his Fable with the Words of the Holy Scripture;
''^ nay, he makes a Kind of Sortes Virgilianae of the Bible, by making Crusoe dip in- 3° to it for Sentences to his purpose. To
me
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me the Iinpiety of this Part of the Book, in making the Truths of the Bi- ble of a Piece with the fictitious Story of
* Robinson Crusoe, is so horribly shocking that I dare not dwell upon it; but must 5 say, that they make me think that this
* Book ought to be printed with Vaninus,
* the Freethinker, and some other Atheisti- cal Tracts, which are condemn ' d and held in Abhorrence by all good Chris- '*^ tians.
It is an odd Whimsy of Crusoe, to think of making Malt, which yet he knew not how to compass ; whereas, he
* might make good Wine with little or no '5 trouble. But you tell us that 3' our Friend Rohinsoii was never in the right in
his Life, and, I think, that you have pretty well kept up that Part of his Cha- racter, in all that he says or does 20
* In Page 207, and several subsequent Pages, as 234, 296 and 342, he presses very earnestly our serious Regard to the secret Hints and Impulses of the Mind, of which
we can give no Rational Account. But I ^5 must tell him, that this is only the Effect of a blind superstitious Fear, which ought not to be minded by any Man of com- mon Sense or Religion. We read, indeed,
* of the Daemon of Socrates, who generally 3° gave him notice and warning of any Evil
E ^ that
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* that threaten 'd liim : Cardan, a Modern Ita- lian, pretended to the same, but has been laugh 'd at for that Pretence by all the Learned Men who mention it : There
* have likewise been some Enthusiastick 5 Papists, who have believ'd that some of
, their Saints had done them the same Fa- vour ; but for a Protestant to recommend this Superstition, is something extraordi- nary : But here the Dregs of Popery still 'o hang about Air Crusoe.
* I v/ould ask Mr Crusoe how he could see the saucer Eyes of the Goat in the Cave, when he tells us it was so dark that he could see nothing there ; this is '5 not lielpt by sa^ang, that a Ray of the Light struck thro' the Mouth of the Cave, for then there was Light, which
he says there was not ; and if there was, then he might have seen the Goat's Bo- ^o dy as well as his Eyes.
* He tells us that his Man Friday would not eat Salt, but we see not how he him- self had any to eat ; well, we'll suppose
he had made it out of the Sea Water. 25
* He would have done well likewise to have told us how Friday could make his escape, since he assures us that the Victims were all bound till executed ; but per- haps this Caution was made use of after 3^ Friday had made his escape. He agrees
with
*
I07. (27)
with the Spaniard and Friday's Father, that they should bring a Contract in Writing, under the Hands of the other Spaniards, tho' he knew they had neither Pen, Ink, nor Paper ; nay, he had 5 done well if he had inform 'd us, how he could give them Instructions in Writing, when his Ink was gone so many Years before.
Well, Crusoe at last, and his Man Fri- ^^ day, get away from his Island into En- gland ; and from thence he makes a Voyage to Portugal, where having set- tled all his Affairs and found himself a Rich Man, in obedience to his secret '5 Hints, he resolves not to go by Sea back, but thro' Spain and France by Land, and so only cross the Seas from Calais to Do- ver. All that happens in this Land Journey worth taking Notice of, is the -o monstrous Story of his Man Friday and the Bear ; they are passing the Pyrenean Mountains thro' a very great Snow, the Roads were so infested with Wolves, that two cf them fell upon their Guide, and -5 wounded him and his Horse, before Fri- day could come up and shoot them ; but notwithstanding this Wound of the Guide, and the how^ling of the Wolves all about, and that it was within two Hours of 3° Night, and they had near three Leagues
E 2 to
1 08
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to ride in the Snow, lie makes a matter of thirty Passengers, and the wounded Guide, stand still in the Cold, to see
'■ Friday make laugh, as he calls it, with a Bear, that b}- Chance cam.e that Way. 5 Friday pulls off his Boots and claps on his Pumps, runs to the Bear and takes up a
' great Stone, which he throws at him ; but how Friday could j^ick up a great Stone in a Place all cover'd deep with Snow, "o I know not ; nor can I tell, how Friday came to know the Nature of the Bear,
'■ Since that is a Creature, which is never found in such a warm Climate, as Fri- day's Country must needs be, since it was '5 so near the Fqiiiuox : I believe it is equal-
'' ly true, that the whole Company laugh 'd at Friday's managing the Bear ; but, in- deed, this Book seems calculated for the Mob, and will not bear the Bye of a ra- 20 tional Reader. Well, Robinson at last gets again to London, marries, has three Children ; he is near sixty five years of Age, which one would think was old enough to leave off Rambling, having 25 especially a plentiful Fortune ; yet he tell us, that he takes a Trip, as it were for Pleasure, to his old Island in America, and thence to Brasil, and so rambles about till sevent}- five years of Age, and 3° how much longer T know not, an Ac- count
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count of which he promises in his next Volume. I hope, dear D — n, that you have taken more care of Probability and Religion than you have in this ; tho' I am afraid you are too harden 'd a Sinner in these Particulars, to f^ive us any Proof in your Works of your sincere Repentance, which yet is heartily wish'd you, by
Your Friend and Servant, etc.
POSTSCRIPT.
Having just run thro' the first Volume and clos'd my Letter, I was told that the second \''olume was at last com^e out. I was too much tir'd with the Badness of the Road in my first Journey, to venture ^5 upon another the same Way, without resting to recover my Patience, of which I was to have sufficient use in my passing thro' the second Part. I am afraid that Robinson Crusoe reserv'd so much Opium 20 for his own Use, v/hen he dispos'd of the rest to the Merchant of Japan, that he has scarce been thoroughh^ awake ever * since ; and has communicated that som- niferous Oualitv of the Drus^ to his 25 Writing thro' the whole second Part, which every where prepares you for
Sleep ;
*
1 lO
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Sleep ; to avoid a Lethargy therefore, I shall not dwell upon it, and its perpetual Succession of Absurdities, but only touch upon some few, which may serve for Samples of the whole. I cannot, how- 5 ever, omit taking particular Notice of the Editor's Preface, because it is not on- ly written by the same Hand, but also very singular in its Kind : you begin with a Boast of the Success of your Book, and '° which you sa}^ deserves that Success by its Merits, that is, The surprizing Variety of the Subject, and the agreeable Man- ner of the Performance. It's well 370U tell us so yourself, the judicious Reader else '5 must have been puzzel'd to find out the M3^stery of its Success. For first, as to the Variety of the Subject, it will be a hard Matter to make that good, since it's spread
* out into at least five and twent}^ Sheets, 20 clog'd with Moral Reflections, as you
are pleas 'd to call them, every where in-
* sipid and awk'ward, and in many Places of no manner of Relation to the Occa- sion on which they are deliver'd, besides 25 being much larger than necessary, and frequently impious and prophane ; and al-
* ways canting are the Reflections which you are pleas'd to call religious and use-
* ful, and the brightest Ornainents of your 30 Book, tho' in reality they were put in by
you
Ill
Jf:
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* you to swell the Bulk of your Treatise up to a five Shilling Book ; whereas, the Want of Variety in your Subject, would never have made it reach to half
the Price ; nay, as it is, you have been 5 forc'd to give us the same Reflections over and over again, as well as repeat the same Fact afterwards in a Journal, which you had told us before in a plain Narration. So agreeable is the Manner *o of your Performance ! which is render 'd more so by the excessive Sterility of your Expression, being forc'd perpetually to say the same Things in the very self same
* Words four or five times over in one ^5 Page, which puts me in Mind of what
* Httdibras says,
Would it not make one strange That some Mens Fancies should ne^er change, But always make them do and say 20
The self same Thing, the self same Way ?
^
Another agreeable Thing in the Perfor- mance is, that every Page is full of So- lecisjns or false Grammar. However, this may be, for ought I know, a very agree- 25 able Performance to most of your Buy- ers.
Your next Triumph is, that the Re- proaches of your Book as a Romance,
and
112
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and as being guilty of bad Geography, Contradictions, and the like, hai'c proved Abortive (I suppose you mean ineffectu- al) a}id as impotent as malicious ; but here, as well as in other Places, you are 5 guilty of a great Abuse of Words : For first, they have not been impotent, since all but the verj' Canaille are satisfied by them of the Worthlessness of the Performance ; nor can the exposing the Weakness and '° Folly of any assuming and ignorant Scrib- bler be properly cali'd malicious ; they who malign eminent Worth, ma}^, in- deed deserve such a Name ; but what hath been said of, or done against such an '5 incoherent Piece as Robinson Crusoe, can at worst been only cali'd Indignation ; and tliat was what the eminent Satirist was not asham'd to own, as the Motive and Support of his Verses. 20
Si Natura negat facit Indignatio versum.
And thus I may say of my present Let- ter to you ; that if want of Genius for- bid my Writing at all, that Defect is largely supplied by Indignation, not Ma- 25 lice or Env}^ ; for Folly and Ignorance can never produce them. However, I find that these Endeavours you seem to contemn as impotent, have yet had so
great
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great a Force upon yourself, as to make
* you more than tacitly confess, that your Book is nothing but a Romance. You say, indeed. The just Application of every Incident, the religious and useful Inferences s drawn from every Part, are so many Testi- monies to the good Design of making it Pub- lick, and must Legitimate all the Part that may be called Invention or Parable in the Story. But when it is plain that there are •»
* no true, useful or just Inferences drawn from an}'^ of the Incidents ; when Reli- gion has so little to do in any Part of these Inferences ; when it is evident that what you call Religion, is only to mis- '5 lead the Minds of Men to reject the Dic- tates of Reason, and embrace in its
* -Room a meer superstitious Fear of I
know not what Instinct from unbodied Spirits ; when you impiously prophane ^o the very Name of Providence, by allot- ting to it either contradictor}^' Offices, or an unjust Partiality : I think we may justty say, that the Design of the Publi- cation of this Book was not sufficient to ^s justify and make Truth of what you al- low to be Fiction and Fable ; what you mean by Legitimating, Invention, and Pa- rable, I know not ; unless you would have us think, that the manner of your 3° telling a Lie will make it a Truth. One
F may
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may say a great Deal in Answer to what you urge against the Abridgment of your Book, but it is too absurd to dwell upon, and against the Practice of all Ages and all Nations : what think j^ou, honest 5 D — n of the History of Justin ? Was not that an Abridgment of Trogiis Pompeius, whose long Histor}' of the World is lost, and the Abridgment of Justin remains to this Di}'? nor can I find that ever he 'o was stis;matiz'd for it with a Crime as bad as Robbing on the Highwa}^ What think \'ou of Darius Tihertiis, a Modern Italian, who abridg'd the Lives of Pht tarch in the Latin tongue ? what do you '5 suppose of the Abridgment of the Vo- luminous History- of Guarini ? what of the Latin Abridoment of Plinv ? what think you of the great Fontinel ? (for I think I ma}^ call him great, after what ^o Sir William Temple has said of him) he tells you himself, in his Preface to his History of Oracles, that this Book is but an Abridgment of Van Dale, who writ a prolix Treatise upon that Subject. But 25 not to dwell upon Foreigners, we have a hundred Instances in our own Tongue of the like Practice, in many of which Booksellers of undoubted Probity have been concern 'd ; indeed, there is this 30 to be said, that most of these Abridg- ments
*
*
lO
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ments have been of Books of a real intrinsick Value ; but yours might for me have continu'd unabridg'd, and still retain 'd all its brightest Ornaments, as you call them ; but if the omitting of those be the only Fault of the Abridgment, I can't but think his Work more valuable than the Original, nor do I see that he has done your Proprietor any damage, since he has left to your larger Volume all those Beauties you are so fond of, and may, indeed, be said to be only an Ad- vertiser of them to those that have them not. If he has preserv'd the Fable entire, the Judicious will not want your clum- '5 sy and tedious Reflections to recom- mend it ; for, indeed, by what you say, you seem not to understand the very Na- ture of a Fable, which is a sort of Wri- ting which has always been esteem 'd by -° the wisest and best of Men to be of great use to the Instruction of Mankind ; but then this Use and Instruction should natu- rally and plainly arise from the Fable it- self, in an evident and useful Moral, either 25 exprest or understood ; but this is too large a Subject to go thro', and to shew that by the Rules of Art 3-ou have not attain 'd any one End and Aim of a Writer of Fables in the Tale that you have given 3° us. I shall therefore proceed to those few
F2 Re-
no
{36)
Remarks, whicli I have made in a cursory reading of \'Our second Part.
The first Thing I remark, is, that you are at 3--onr Dreams again Page 3d and 4th; for most of the Religion of your 5 Book consists in Dreams. The next Thing I shall just hint at, is what you say about the three Pirate Sailors in the same Page — So if I had hang'd them all, I had been r.inch in the riglit, and should have ^° been justifiable both by the Laws of God and Man, the contrary of which Assertion is directly true, viz. That if you had hang'd them all, 3'Ou had been guilty of down- right Murther b}- all the Laws of God ^5 and Man ; for pra^-, sweet Sir, what Au- thority had Robinson Crusoe so much as to fine, or inflict any Punishment upon any Man ?
Some Follies, I find, are like some Dis- 20 tempers, catching : Thus, Madam Crusoe, by conversing with her wise Husband, ex- travaganth- fancies his fantastick Whim- sies to be the Impulse of Divine Provi- dence, ibid. 25
Against the next Edition of your Book, profound Da — /, I wish 3'ou would take the Pains to explain the fol- lowing Piece of Nonsense, so far as to make it intelligible ; for I can meet with 30 no Bod}', no, not the most skill'd in the
ab-
*
*
*
*
117
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abstruser Sciences, that can so much as guess what you would be at. I transcribe them for your serious Consideration, No- thing can be a greater Demonstration of a fu- ture State, and of the Existence of an invi- 5 sible World, than the Concurrence of second Causes with the Ideas of Things, which we form in our Minds, perfectly reserved and not communicated to any in the World, Page lo; and in Page 12, he is making it a 'o resisting of Providence, if he did not go a rambling at about sixty five Years of Age. I only note this en passant, to re- mind 3^ou of what noble Offices you as- sign to the Divine Providence, by attri- '5 buting to the Impulse of that all Things that are irrational; a very pious Notion of the eternal Divine Wisdom ! I shall only observe on that odd Account, given Page 20, of the extravagant Joy of the 20 French that v/ere sav'd by Crusoe, when their Ship was burnt, that they were cer- tainly a Ship-load of extreme Cowards or Madmen; for nothing but the Extremity of Cowardice or Lunacy could ever pro- -5 duce so general a Distraction. It is con- fess'd, that unexpected Deliverances will have strange Effects upon some very few particular People, but then this Delive- rance must be very sudden and very un- 3°
ex-
iiS
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expected : but this is not the Case here; for all the Time the Ship was burning,
' Crusoe discharg'd Guns to let them know that Relief was at Hand ; and all the Night after, when the Flame of the burnt 5 Ship was extinguish 'd by the Sea, the
^ same Crusoe set out Lights upon his Ship, and frequently discharg'd Guns to direct the Boats loaded with the Crew of the burnt Ship towards their Safety, which '° they found could not be far off; and to- wards which, by this Means, the}' might
■■' every Minute make some approach; so
^ that Hope was not gone, no not for one Minute, which makes all those extrava- '5 gant Effects of Joy utterly improbable; nay, I m.a.j say, impossible.
I shall pass Friday's speaking broken English twelve YearT'aTter he Jiad- —been with his Master, and almost as unintelli- 20 gibly, as after he had been with him but twelve Days; nor shall I stop long upon the Spaniards Prognosticating Hu-
'" mour, from Dreams and unaccountable Whimsies, because the Spaniard seems to 25 have learnt this by dwelling so long in Crusoe's Habitation; for he has the same Notion of secret Correspondence betwixt unbodied and embodied Spirits , which Crusoe every where avows. But, dear 3^ Da — I, you have forgot yourself, yoii
make
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make a Spaniard speak here, the most bi-
* gotted of all Papists; and therefore it had been more natural for him to have attributed this secret Intelligence to Saint JagOf or the Blessed Virgin, or even to 5 his Angel Guardian : But, indeed, you frequently forget the Religion of your Speaker, and make the Spaniard in your
* first Part quote Scripture Instances, which
he could never be suppos'd to have read '° in all his Life, or ever heard mention 'd. But to go on, for I will say nothing of
* the Savages Landing in the Night to make their Feast; for they are your Sa- vages, and you may make them go '5 where and when you please, and for what you please. I shall pass, therefore,
on to Crusoe's Learned Discourse with the
* French Popish Priest in Page 146, etc. which has, indeed, as gross Marks of -^ Falshood and inartificial Fiction, as any thing in your Book : you make the Priest call the Living of the four Englishmen with their Indian Wives (because unmar- ried according to the Laws and Customs 25
* of any Christian Country-) Adultery. Had Crusoe call'd it so it might have been tole- rable, and have pass'd for the Ignorance of a Seafaring Man; but to make a Priest talk so, whose Trade it is to know the 3°
distinct
I20
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distinct Names of every Sin, is a plain Proof that all this came out of thy in- ventive Noddle. For you must know, Friend Da — I, that all Carnal Com- merce between two single Persons is cal- 5 led Fornication, and not Adultery; Adul- ter}^ is when a married Woman or a married Man has this criminal Commerce with any other but her Husband, or his Wife : How, therefore, a Romish Priest '° should tell Crusoe, that his Englishmen without Marriage would live in continual Adultery, is what you would do well to make out; for I am satisfy 'd, no Priest in Christendom would call it by any '5 other Name but Fornication. Nor has that a better Face of Truth, which you make the Popish Priest speak about Idolatry, Page 150; where, in the Person of the Popish Priest, he complements Popery 20 with a known and intolerable Lie, where he makes him express his Zeal for bring- ing the Indians over to the Christian Re- ligion in general; na}^ even to the making of them Protestants : Now it is very well 25 known, that the Papists in general, and much more a zealous Popish Priest and Missionary, do not allow any Heretick, as they call all Protestants, any better Place in the next World than that of 3°
eter-
*
*
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eternal Damnation; so that unless he brought the Pagans over entirely to Po- pery, he must throw away all his Labour and Pains, in his own Opinion, as much as if he had done nothing at all. Of the 5 same absurd Nature is all that passes be- twixt the Priest and Atkins: for tho' At- kins knows him not to be a Popish Priest, he knows very well that Atkins is an English Protestant Heretick, and there- »o fore, that he shall set him no nearer to Salvation by the Repentance he per- swaded him to, than if he had left him where he found him. Well, Atkins's Wife gets to be christen 'd by this Means, and '5 is married to her Husband, as Jack of all Trades is to the j^oung Woman taken up at Sea; but for the rest, we hear no more of their Marriage, than of Friday's be- ing christen'd himself, during his twelve ^o Years Service with that zealous Teacher of the Christian Religion Robinson Cru- soe.
I shall not quit this Popish Priest, till I have said something upon a Point, for 25 which he is recommended to our Ad- miration by this same Protestant Crusoe; and that is, upon the Popish Missiona- ries being sent about the World to make Converts from one Idolatr\^ to another, 30
G from
122
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from a less to a greater; that is, from Paganism to Popery. Well, let us hear what the Priest says in Page 151. It is a Maxim, Sir, that is, or ought to be received among all Christians, of what 5 Church or pretended Church soever, {viz.) That Christian Knowledge ought to be propagated b}^ all possible Means, and on all possible Occasions. ^Tis on this Principle that our Church sends Missiona- ^^ ries into Persia, India, and China; and that our Clergy, even of the superior Sort, willingly engage in the most hazardous Voyages, and the most dangerous Residence amcmg Murtherers and Barbarians, to teach '5 them the Knowledge of the true God, and to bring them over to embrace the Christian Faith.
There is scarce one Word of Truth in all this Quotation; and it is only drest up 20 in Words, that are calculated to give the Protestant Reader an agreeable Idea of Popery, on purpose to smooth the Way, as far as his little Abilities can do it, for the Popish Superstition to enter these 25 Kingdoms; that the Popish Church does, indeed, send Missionaries to these three Places, mention 'd in the Quotation, and some others, is certainly true. I do con- fess that they will roam about the 30
World
123
*
*
*
*
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World to make one Proselite, but then it is as true, that they make this Prose- lite ten times more the Child of the De- vil than he was before; it is true, I say, that the}'- do send their Clerg}^ abroad, 5 but not their superiour Clergj^ as this Quotation falsly asserts, but Jesuits and some other regular Orders; nor is their Business in reality to bring the Pagans to the Knowledge of the true God and the 'o Christian Religion, but to carry on a pri- vate interloping Trade, by which they bring in vast Treasures into their particu- lar Orders. What sort of Christians they make, is evident from that great '5 Noise and Stir, which has been made some years before the Congregation De Propaganda Fide in Rome itself; where it has been prov'd, even by Roman Catho- lics, that the Jesuit Missionaries in China ^o have only incorporated the Heathen Re- ligion of that Place into that which the Romish Church professes; and that they have admitted Confucius into the Kalen- dar among the Saints, to be pray'd to, as ^S well as St Peter and St Panl, and the Virgin Mary. Dear Da — I art thou not now asham'd of having brought in such * notorious Falsities in the Defence of Po- pery ? If Zeal for the Propagating the 3°
G 2 Gos-
124
*
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Gospel of Christ were the Motive that set these Itinerant Preachers to work, why do they not go to the poor Tartars, whose Ignorance and Idolatry you do pretend to describe ? why do they not go to the 5 poor Laplanders and Samoidcs, where there is nothing to be got; no Traffick to be establish 'd beneficial enough to warm their Zeal, and make it travel for the Conversion of Souls in those cold Conn- 'o tries? why do they seek all the richer and more gainful Part of the World for their Missions ? But to go on with these sort of Queries, would be to swell my Postscript to a much greater Bulk than '5 I design. From what has been said, I be- lieve, it may be pretty plain, that this sending of Missionaries of the Popish Church, is a mere Political Trick, with- out the least Tincture of true Reli- ^o
gion.
I have been so long upon this, that I shall say nothing of honest Robinson's being oppress 'd by the Power of the Priest's Reasoning, which yet is so ver3^ 25 weak and false as I have show'd you ; or proceed to a particular Confutation of what the Priest advances upon Matri- mony, tho' in many Things very false. But it is observable that Crusoe, after all 3f>
the
125
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the Zeal of the Popish Priest against the Pirates living with their Indian Wives
* without Marriage, sends from Brasil several Women for the use of the Spani- ards, who were not before married ; and 5 that without sending any Priest with them to marry them.
* I shall pass over, likewise, the Maid's Discourse upon Starving, because I can- not see that it is any ways entertaining ^° or instructive, but a very clumsy Pro- duct of the most unphilosophical Head in
the World.
* And I shall only ask you, how a Man should chuse any particular Way or Voca- '5 tion of Life, if he must not take his own Judgment ; for this is plainly to tell us, that Man must chuse no Way nor Voca- tion at all, since you will not allow him
the only Means of chusing which God 20 and Nature has given him : This is the plain English of your Assertion in Page 218. From hence I shall skip to Page
* 302, where there is a very particular Blunder or Contradiction ; for he first 25
* tells you, that the Horse the Chinese Man- darin rid upon, was a poor lean Creature, not worth above 30 or 40 Shillings ; and yet presently after, in Page 304, he says, that there was not a Horse in the Reti- 30
nue
:j;
*
:r6
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uue of the Mandarm, but was so covered with Equipages, Mantles, Trappiy^gs, and such like Trumpery, that you cannot see whether they are Fat or Lean : In a Word, we could scarce see any thing but their Feet 5 and their Heads.
Before I follow him out of China, I shall only add one Word or two on his Account of that famous Kingdom, which, contrary to all those who have reall}/ been '^ there, lie makes a most despicable Place, where there is nothing of Politeness or Learning ; but that Singularity of yours will never perswade us to think, that the Writer of it was ever nearer to Pequin '5 than London : And, therefore, I shall not doubt but that Sir IVilliam Temple fol- low'd as just Relations of this Country, as any Mr De F — e could pretend to meet with, who makes it the most Po- ** lite and magnificent Empire in the World.
Well, I am quite tir'd with your Jour- ne\' of the Caravan, and can but just take Notice of Robinson Crusoe and the 25 Scotchman's burning one of the Tartarian Gods, at the Hazard, not only of their own Lives, but of all the rest of the Cara- van, which must certainly have follow'd, had not the Ingenuity of a Tartar in their 3f>
Re-
12:
(47)
Retinue turn'd off the Storm, and set the ten thousand Tartars upon a wrong Scent, which should lead them, at least, five hundred Miles out of their Way. And here I conclude, satisfied with having 5
* check 'd that Vanity which is so apparent in both your Volumes, especially in the Preface to your last, by offering some few only of that Multitude of Absur- dities and Profaneness of which both '° Parts are full ; for to have touch 'd upon every one, would have swell'd my Re- marks to the Bigness of at least one of
* your Volumes. But ex pede Herculem,
ex ungue Leonem, a small Sample is suffi- ^5 cient to give a Taste of the whole.
The Christian Religion and the Doc-
* trines of Providence are too Sacred to be delivered in Fictions and Lies, nor was this Method ever propos'd or follow 'd ^o by any true Sons of the Gospel ; it is what has been, indeed, made use of by
* the Papists in the Legends of their Saints, the Lying Wonders of which
are by Length of Time grown into such ^S Authorit}^ with that wretched People, that they are at last substituted in the Place of the Holy Scriptures themselves. For the Evil Consequences of allowing Lies to mingle with the Holy Truths of 3°
Re-
128
(4S)
Religion, is the certain Seed of Atheism and utter Irreligion; whether, therefore, 3'ou ought to make a publick Recanta- tion of \'our Conduct in this Particular, I leave to yourself.
FINIS.
NOTES
TITLE-PAGE
An imitation of the title-page of De Foe's novel : « The I Life | and ! Strange Surprizing | Adventures j ol I Robinson Crusoe, | of York, Mariner : [ Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, [ all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the | Coast of America, near the Mouth of I the Great River of Oroonoque ; I Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, where- | in all the Men perished but himself. | "With | An Account hov/ he was at last as strangely deli- [ Ver'd by Pyrates. | Written by Himself. » The typographical arrangement of both titles is practically the same. — The title of Gildon's work does not correspond exactly to the contents of the pamphlet, but it was intended to excite the reader's curiosity.
I. 6. — D... De F... means Daniel de Foe. Throughout the pamphlet D..n is put for Dan, and D...1 for Daniel (with perhaps an intention to suggest D(evi)l as well as D(anie)l.
I. 8. — De Foe always styled himself a « trader » and denied he had ever stood behind the counter ; and, in fact, as early as 1683, he had a wholesale office in Freeman's Yard, nearly opposite the entrance to Change Alley. He exported hosiery and cloth, and imported wines and drugs. Whenever his enemies wanted to wound his pride, they called him hosier, sock -seller, or civet-cat merchant.
/. 70. — De Foe was born in 1660, so that he was 59 when Gildon wrote his pamphlet.
I- II. — There is some truth in saying that De Foe lived by himself, because his work as a governmental spy pre-
130 NOTES TO P. (iii)
vented his having many friends, and he never mixed with e polite » or Hterary circles.
North Britain. This alludes to De Foe's frequent visits to Scotland, from 1706 to 1712. He was sent by Harley to watch events during the discussions about the Union, and later to study the consequences of the treaty.
] 72. — See note to p. Ill, 1. 16.
I. 73. — Discoveries : this word does not apply to any precise part of Gildon's pamphlet. It alludes probably to De Foe's plans, most of which had been explained in his Essay npon Projects (1697).
I iS. — Robinson Crusoe always calls Friday « my man Friday ».
/ 22. — « Let him be deceived, who wants to be deceived » (Cp. I.uke VIII, "cS). Latin epigraphs were the rule in pamphlets. Swift, in the Examiner, taunted De Foe with being t illiterate », and De Foe was sufficienth- concerned to answer : 0 I have been in my time pretty well master of five larg'.iages, and have not lost them yet, though I write no bill oVer my door, nor set Latin quotations in the jiont of the Re-vie-jj » (Rev. VII, 455).
I. 23. — /. Roberts had already published two of Gildon's works : the ^cw Rehec.rsal (1714), and Canons, or the Vision (1717). He always prudently refrajned from pub- lishing seditious libels.
THE PREFACE
P. III. — The beginning is an imitation of the Preface to Robinson Crusoe : « If ever the story of any private man's advemtures in the wovVl were worth making pub- lic, and were acceptable when published, the Editor of this account thinks this will be so. — The wonders of this man's life exceed all that (he thinks) is to be found extant ; the life of one man being scarce capable of a greater variety-. The story is told with modest}', with seriousness, and with a religious application of events...* — Then the texts differ.
i. 14. — There is some truth in this sarcasm : in his prefaces and dedications, De Foe showed no small opiiiiion of his own merits; and even whem he wished to appear
NOTES TO P. (v) 131
modest and hiunble (as in the Letter to Mr. How, 1701), his humility savoured much of the Pharisee.
I. 16. — An allusion to De Foe's political changes. He was a Moderate Whig, but his attachment to Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, led him to compromise with his con- science, whein, iin 17 10, Harley became the head of a Tory ministry.
I. 18 etc. — Proteus, a sea-god who is represented as having knowledge of the past, present and future; but unwill- ing to give away his knowledge, he assumed different shapes in order to terrify those who came to consult him. Menelaus took him by surprise during his sleep, and seized him, holding more tightly at each new shape he assumed, until at last having exhausted his tricks, the God returned to his ordinary form and gave Menelaus the information he wanted (Odyssey).
P. IV. — I. J. — lUi reality there were about 19 cities which claimed the honour of being Homer's birthplace. But the common tradition mentions ouily 7 of them, viz. Chioe, Smyrna, Cyme, Colophon, Pylos, Argos and Athens.
I. 10. — Nonjurors, Papists, and Atheists. — This is entire- ly false. De Foe, a staunch Dissenter, always waged an implacable war against J^-cobite Priests (Nonjurors), Roman Catholios, and Atheists whom he called Men- devils [Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe). He had so zealously endeavoured to thwart the efforts of the Jacobites that he would probably have been hanged if the Pretender « had enjoyed his own again ».
i. 18. — This last semtence is an imitation of the last sen- tence in Robinson Crusoe : « all these things, with some very surprising incidents in some new adven- tures of my own for ten years more, I may, perhaps, give a farther account of hereafter ».
THE DIALOGUE
P. V. — I. 4. — De Foe haled being called Daniel Foe, wlwch was his real name. In 1695, when, he had become^'' courtier, he had assumed the aristocratic particle De, thus reverting to the primitive name which was prob-
132 NOTES TO P. (vi)
ably bonie by his Flemish ancestors (See our book : Daniel De Foe et ses romans, I, 3). Throughout the pamphlet itself, Gildon calls him Foe (see p. XIV). 1. 8. — De Foe had been educated at Ne"ji;ington Green, in Morton's Acadeni}-, and findinig the country agreeable, fixed his abode at Newivgt >n Toum (also called Stoke Newington) in 1709. Robinson Crusoe was written in his large house in Church Street, which was almost a mansion, with a magnificent garden and extensive pleasure-grounds. He often went on horseback to Lon- don (5 I miles), returning home in the evening. It is u.nlikely that De Foe ever iv reality crossed the fields on foot after midnight, when he had a coach and horses, and very well knew that the environs of Lon- don were not safe. I. lb. — The beginning of the Augustan Period was the age of kidnappers and highwaymen : the exploits of Car- touche, Jack Sheppard, Jonathan Wild, are famous in the literature of the time. De Foe invented very success- fail biographiifcs of rogues, such as Moll Flanders, and Colonel Jack. In 172S, Gay's Beggar's Opera was received with extraordinary applause.
P. VI. . — I. I. — Gene%a, or gin, -( a mixed water », newh- imported from Holland. Its cheapness made it very pop- ular, and in 1719 gi.n-shops were opening everywhere. Some retailers even exhibited placards in- their win- dows intimating that there « people might get drun.k for I d. and clean straw in comfortable cellars would be provided for customers ». De Foe wrote against the immoderate use of gin, and advocated good English beer in its stead. (See his articles in AppLebee's and Mist's Journals, and the pamphlets he wrote under the pseudonym of Andrew Moreton). 1. 2. — That the roads were unsafe about Stoke Newington may be seen by a reference to contemporary papers. The Daily Post fcr Feb. 6 th 1720 Ginaiounceid : « On Wednesday last (Feb. 3rd) in the evening, the stage- aoach was robb'd near the Palatine houses, going from the town to Stoke Newington, by two highwaymen who took from the company their money, a watch, and from one gentlewoman about 30 pounds' worth of
NOTES TO P. (vi)
OJ
new cloaths ». But De Foe was no coward. He ofteu sent challenges to men who threatenetl to cane him • « If this gentleman thinks himself capable to give me personal correlation, he knows me well enough, and need ftever want an opportunity to be welcome » {Letter to Mr. Hoiv)... « I move about the world un- guarded and unarmed ; a little stick, not strong enough to correct a dog, supplies the place of Mr. Observator's [Tutchin] great oaken towel ; a sword sometimes, per- haps, for decenc}', but it is all harmless, to a mere noth- ing, and can do no hurt anywhere but just at the tip of it, called the point : and what is that in the hands ot a feeble author ? » (Rci:ic-di\ II, 214)... « As to defence, I have some thoughts to stay at home by night, and by day to wear a piece of armour on my back; the first, because I am persuaded these murderers will not do their work by da3-l!ight ; and the second, because I firmly believe they will never attempt it fairly to my face. » {Review, VI, Pref.). — His ene- mies vainlj'- tried to waylay him ; some of them had their revenge ou his brother-in-law, Samuel Tuffley, whom they mercilessly caned on one occasion (1711).
/. 7. — Philistines : perhaps Gildon is sneering at De Foe's frequent references to the Bible.
J. 9. — Secret Hint : De Foe believed that the sudden impul- ses of our mind are caused by a friendly daimSn, the messenger of God's Providence. Instances of the cu- rious influence of the Supernatural World on the destiny of men. aire innumerable in Robinson Crusoe. In ithe Vision of the Angelic World (3 rd vol.) he dedi- cates whole pages to the question. He sums up his ideas in a passage of the first vol. (p. 72) : « When we are in a quandary, as we call it, a doubt, or hesitation, whether to go this way or that way, a secret hint shall direct v.s to go this way when we intended to go an- other way; nay, when sense, our own iurclination, and perhaps business has called to go the other way, j'et a strange impression upon the mind, from we know not wliat springs, and by we know not wl-.at power, shall oveirrule us to go this wa}', and it shall after- "Wards appear that had we gone that way which we would have gone, and even to our imagination ought
134 NOTES TO P. vvii)
to have gone, we should have been ruined and lost... i
/. 14. — This is a mixture of Crusoe's dress as described by De Foe and the classical dress of conspirators. — The hatchet was the only weapon Crusoe would give at iirst to Friday.
/. 20. — Friday is described as a good sprinter. He fled from his would-be butchers « with exceeding strength and swiftness », aud Crusoe teLls us 0 ]:e was the swiftest fellow of his feet that I ever saw ». (p. 93).
l. 2S. — Devils of thy oisjn raising. — This expression occurs in Lucan (I, 486), and later in Montaigne {Apol.) and Pascal (Pens^es, Brunschvicg ed. II, 88).
I. ji. — Poll (Crusoe's parrotj, waking his master, calls aloud : t Poor Robin Crusoe ! Where are you ? Where have you been ? How came you here ? » {p. 62).
P. VII. — I. 2. — Paradise Lost, book II.
/. /;. — A parody of the absurd episode of the bear in the last pages of Ue Foe's novel. Friday-, spying a t very monstrous bear » says to his master : « O pray ! O pray no shoot ! me shoot by and then ». He entices the bear up a tree, then on to a small bough, which he shakes lustily, « making good laugh > all the while. He at last shoots the bear, and turns triumphantly to Crusoe, saying : « .So we kill bear in my countr}-. » (p. III). /. I J. — Gildon here makes rather witty use of his belief that bears could not exist in Friday's tropical country (see p, 28). I. ig. — It is strange to hear Friday quote this name from Reynard the Fox, which was hardly to be kjiown in his country « near the mouth of the great river of Oroonoque ».
i. 22. — Perhaps this expression is intended to ridicule De Foe's solemn manner in his articles of the Revie-iV, — as the idea of the whole sentemce may be intended to ridicule Crusoe's reflections -n the helplessness of man i f 1 then reflected that God, who was not only righteous but omnipotent, as he had thought fit thus to punish and afflict me, so he was able to deliver me; that if he did not think fit to do it, it was my unquestioned duty to resign myself absolutely and entirely to his
NOTES TO P. (viii) 135
will ; and, on the other hand, it was m}- duty also to hope in him, pray to him, and quietly to attend dic- tates and directions of his daily providence ». (p. 66). /. 30. — « Before the tribunal of Conscience ». — De Foe's aidversaries taunted him with not knowing Latin, an accusation which anino3-ed him greatly. (See Review II, 149, and VIII, 429, and the Complete English Gen- tleman, p. 200). — Free-school ajid House learning are the vague terms by which De Foe describes his hero's learning : « My father, who was very ancieait, had given me a competent share of learning as far as house education and a country free-school generally go. » Gildooi criticises the^e terms again cm pp. X and 6 (see the notes to these pages).
1'. VIII. — L 5. — « I had alas! ik. divine knowledge; what I had received by the good instruction of my father was then worn out bv an uninterrupted series, for eigfht years, of seafaring wickedness, and a constant conver- sation with nothing but such as were like myself, wicked and profane to the last degree... » (p. 44). 1. 8. — « ... When I got on shore first here, and found all my ship's crew drowned and myself spared, I was surprised with a kind of ecst>as\^ and some transports of soul, which, had the grace of God assiisted, might have come up to true thankfulness, but it ended whea-e it begun., in. a mere common flight of jo}"", or as I may say, being glad I was alive, without the least reflection upon the distinguishing goodness of the hatnd which had preserved me...; even just the same common sort of joy which seamen generalW have after they have got safe on. shore from a shiipwreck, which they drown all in the next bowl of punch, and forget almost as soon as it is over, and all the rest of my life was like it... » (p. 44). Crusoe came back to the worship of God only when a violent fever put him in mind of death.
I n-ij. — C^ldon alludes to Crusoe's statement on p. 58 : « falling early into seafaring company, all that little sense of religion which I had entertained was laughed out of me by my messmates ». Gildon's criticism that De Foe abused English sailors is unjust. De Foe
136 NOTES TO P. (viii)
alwa^'s cousidered individua''s and not nations; Crusoe met with a Portuguese who was honest and kind to him, but this Portuguese was not an ordinary sailor. The English captain of the ship that rescued Crusoe from (hiis island is described as a just and bold fellow. It is true that, in the Further Adventures, the English crew of Crusoe's nephew's ship consists mostly of cruel and dissolute Englishmen. But among the colony of Crusoe's island there are both « good » and « bad » Englishmen. Though De Foe's love for paradox led him to describe honest and pious Spaniards and wick- ed Englishmen, he did not systematically condemn the English nation. Indeed, his writings are more conspicuous for jingoism than for xenom.aaiia (cp. p. tS).
I. 22. — « I had once a mind to have gone to the Brazils, and have settled myself there, for I was, as it were, naturalised to the place ; but I had some little scruple in my mind about religion; which insensibly drew me back, of wliich I shall say more presently. However, it was not religion that kept me from going thither for the present ; and as I had made no scruple of being opesnly of the religion of the country all the while . was among them, so neither did I yet; only that now and then having of late thought more of it than for- merly, when I began to think of living amd dj'ing among them, I began to regret my having professed myself a Papist, and thought it might not be the best religion to die in ». (p. loS).
I JO. — Popish Priests : the Prior of the Monastery of St Augusitine in Brazil, who administered Crusoe's prop- erty during his stay on the island, is a kind and honest man. In the Further Adve^itures, a French Cath- olic priest, who is both pious and tolerant is introduced. The Catholic Spaniards who inhabit Crusioe's nsland flir>e ]ieaceful and industrious men. Faither Simion, a mis- sionary whom Crusoe meeits in China, is « courteous, easy in his manners and very agreeable comi)any ». De Foe loved paradox, and delighted to bewilder the mind of his .simple readers; indeed, to a Puritan, reader of De Foe's time, a virtuous Papist was a greater wonder than a unicorn.
NOTES TO P. (ix) 137
I. 31. — Popish religion : this is cxag-gei-ated. Crusoe ad- mired some individual Catholics, but not Poipery as a whole. He attacked « Romish Superstition » (p. 86), the InquiisitiiQii (p. 94), and, in the Further Adventures, he demounced Catholic intolerance (p. 46), Cath- olic errors (p. 59) and Catuclic fanaticism (pp. 57, 72) ; he also bitterly criticised the work of Catholic mis- sionaries (pp. 75-76).
P. IX. — I. 2. — Crusoe is 63 when he leaves England to reviisit his island. He returns to Ltondion, ten yeard aft- erwards, having visited Madagascar, India, China, and having crossed Asia from Pekin to Archangel. A strenuous voyage for an old man !
/. 10. — Gildon is right : Friday's intelligence and extraor- dinary readiness in learning would be impossible in a Caribbee savage.
L 12 etc. — « I made Friday go out upon the deck, and call out aloud to them in his language to know what they meant; whic^h accordingly he did. Whether they un- derstood him or not, that I know not ; but as soon as he had called to them, six of them, who were in the foremost or nighest boat Lo us, turned their canoes from us, and, stooping down, showed us their naked backsides... Whether this was a defiance or challenge we know not ; or whether it was done in mere con- tempt, or a signal to the rest, but immediately Friday cried out they were going <o shoot; and unhappily for him (poor fellow) they let fly about 300 of their ar- rows, and, to my inexpressible grief, killed poor Fri- day, no other man being in their sight. » (Further Ad- ventures, pp. 55-6).
I 15. — But Crusoe might reasonably have hoped that Fri- day could have made himself understood by men of .n neighbouring tribe, even if their -language was not exactly the dialect spoken b/ his own..
I. 25. — i. e. the French Priest rescued by Crusoe from a burning ship, who afterwards evangelized the colony on the island ; Will Atkins, the pirate left on the is- land, who reformed and became a good Christian ; the Priest in China (Father Simon), Crusoe's companion in China; the Nephew's ship's Crew, the gang of sail-
138 NOTES TO P. (x)
ors who behaved so cruelly in Madagascar, and who, annoyed by Crusoe's reproaches, abandoned him on shore in India.
/. 30. — Tuthill . (Totliill St.) in Westminster, — Lime- house hole, in the East-End.
I. 3/. — Though this is intended to ridicule De Foe's book, it is a striking- acknowledgment of its extraordinary popularity m London (i ist ed. April 25 th — 4 th ed. Aug. S th). ■
F. X. — /. 2. — The Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan, was first published in 167S. Its success was such that in 16SS the booksellers were sellimg the 11 th ed.
/. 3. — The Practice of Piety, directing a Christian how to walk that he may please God, by Lewis Bayly, bishop of Bangor, was first issued about 161 1. In 1613 it had reached its 3 rd, in 1619 its n th, and in 1630 its 25 th edition. It was translated into French (Geneva, 1625), into German (Zurich 1629), into Polish (1647), into Welsh (1630), into the language of the Indians of Massachusetts (Cambridge 1665), and into Romansch (1668). Bunyan tells us his V/ife « had for her part the Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven, amd the Practice of Piety, which her father had left her when he died ». Bayly's book had an important influence over Bun- yan's mind. Many Puritans looked upon it as an authority equal to the Bible.
The Triumphs of God's Revenge against Murther, expressed in 30 tragical histories, by John Rainolds (or Reynolds), — one of the translators of the Bible, — waus first published in 1622. It ran into many successive edi- tions (1629, 1635, 1640, 1657, 1662, 1670, 1679, 16S5, 1704, 1708, etc.). To the 1679 ed. was added God's Re- venge against Adultery, and the 1685 ed. bore the fol- iLowing title : the Glory of God's Revenge against Mur- ther and Adultery. — From one of Reynold's e histo- ries » Middleton and Rowley took the plot of their trag- edy, the Changeling (1653, 1668).
/. 6. — Pye Corner, in Giltspur St. near vSmithfield Market; a poor quarter.
/. 7. — Guy of Warwick : the hero of a famous Acglo-Saxoti legend which recounts the wonderful achievements by
NOTES TO P. (x) 139
which he obtained the hand of his lady, the Fair Fe- lice, — and alf-o the adventures he subsequently met with in. a pilgrimage to the Holy land and on his re- turn home. The first poem that deals with the legend is a Norman-French poem of the end of the 13 th cen- tury ; the oldest English version is a little later. The first popular edition of the Flnglish versioa Avas print- ed by John Cawood im the .latter end oi the 16 th century {The Historie of Guy, earl of Warwick; 4 to). The knight's adventures made the subject of a poem by Samuel Rowlands (1607), which suggested a Play called the Life and Death of Guy of Warwick- by John Day and Thonias Decker ; the play is not now extant. A popular ballad on Guy of Warwick, by Huniphre}- Crouch, was first printed in 1665, and repeatedJy reis- sued in the 17 th and iS th centuries. The romance was reduced to prose by Martin Parker in 1640. A chap- book in 4 to, first issued in London a-n 1684, was fre- quently republished in all the chief cities of England. Another version in 12 mo, published in London in 1706, was still (more successful. — In Hudibras (I, 2) Taligol, the butcher, is compared ito Guy of Warwick :
« He many a Bore and huge Dun Cow Did, like another Guy, o'erthrow But Guy with him in fight compar'd Had like the Bore or Dun Cow far'd. b
Bevis of Southampton (or more correctly, of Hamp- ton) accomplished marvellous exploits of which the chief was the slaying of the terrible giant Ascapart. They are related iin, the 2 nd book of Drayton's Polyolbion (1622) ; the romance was already popular at that time : Thomas East, stationer and printer, had published a ballad entitled Syr Bevis of Southampton in the last years of the 16 th century. Ballads and cbapbooks dealing with Bevis were repeatedly reissued through- dut the 17 th and 18 th centuries. /. 8. — The London Prentice is the title of many romances which were spread by pedlars throughout England, in ballads and chapbooks. The outlines of these romances are the same : they recount the exploits of a London apprentice who slew giants or dragons and rescued a
I40 NOTES TO P. (x)
■;;;-n',:!:ifi:l princess whom he married. — Hey wood's play, the Four Prentices of London (first played in 1601, published in 1615) was parodied and ridiculetl in the Knight of the Burning Pestle (1611) by Beaumont and Fletcher. — Under the title The London Prentice, s.ome cl'.apbooks of the iS tli century contain .simply the well-known storj- of Dick Whittingtou. — Such ro- mances as those quoted here by Gildon were certainly in the pack of Autol3-cus (Winter's Talc IV, 3).
M... Zt\.. r.. — I have been u«iable to find with cer- tainty what name these initials represent. Perhaps Gildon thought of John Mawer, a poor hacR-wruer who wrote ballads and achieved some success in 1727 by his poem Liberty Asserted. But we have no evi- dence that connects Mawer in any way with De Foe's work .
I iS. — De Foe himself had already suggested this idea in the preface to the Fiirther Aaventures : « The just ap- plication of every incident, the religious and useful inferances drawn from every part, are so many testi- monies to the good design of making it public, and must legitimate all the part that may be called inven- tion or parable in the story ». By insisting on the allegorical character of the tale, Gildon paved the way for the 3 rd vol. of Robinson Cnisoe.
I 23. — Before the Civil War, the city of Kidderminster (Worcestershire) was notorious for its ignorance and depravity. In 1640, some inhabitants sent a petition against their curate, and it was decided to appoint a free preacher in his stead. The Presbyterian minister Baxter was chosen. His preaching performed miracles, and whereas, before, the moral were to be counted on the ten fingers, ere long, the passing traveller heard the sounds of praj'er in every household. Kiddermiin- ster became a model of Pnritan cities, and was the stronghold of Puritanism in a county which sided with the Cavaliers. Hence the banner of Kidderminster became a symbol for the Dissenters.
/ 26. — De Foe had had a better education at Morton's Acad- emy in Xewington (^reen, as gocKl almost as the edu- cation given in the Universities.
I. 3a. — The meaning of the expression out of my time is
NOTES TO P. (xi) 141
not cledi. At first sight Gildon seems to mean that De P'oe did not belong to his time, — was, according to the common expression, « born out of his time ». — It is more likel}- from the context that Gildon uses « being out of » in. the sense of « issued out of », and therefore that De Foe, on the contrary, belonged to his age, when impudence was a sure road to success. On p. XII De Foe is made to say, « anjlhing that is boldly writ will go down with either part}'- ». i 3^- — De Foe was very popular as an orator in the Whig and Dissenting clubs of the Cit}- during the reign of James the Second, when lie denounced the King's pol- icy towards Nou-conformi'sts.
P. XI. — L 5. — De Foe published his first poem in i6gi ; he was then 31. The poem, A new discovery of an old intreague, was a satire levelled at the Jacobites.
/. 6. — Authorizing, i. e. authoring : perhaps a lapsus lin- guae when Gildon was dictating. De Foe discussed in pamphlets or satirical poems the chief problems of the reign of King William, as the legitimacj' of a standing army, the predominance of Dutch Courtiers, Reforma- tion of manners, Occasional Conformity for Dissenters etc.
/. 9-/5. — Lime Kilns : about 1695, De Foe became secre- tary to a factory of bricks and pantiles at Tilbury. His connexion with this factory could not be the cause of his bankruptcy which had happened 3 years before (1692) : at thiat time he had been obliged to leave his office in Freeman s Court, near the Royal-Exchange, and hide in Bristol. During his period of concealment, except on Sunday's he never went into the streets for fear of bailiflfis. It may be that on bis way to Bristol he stopped in several towns, — which would justify Gildon 's statement : « rambling from place to place ».
I. 28. — De Foe became a professional author after his im- prisonment in Newgate (1703) which ruined the brick and tile factory.
P. XTT. — I. 2. — De Foe being a Dissenter by upbringing had no choice but to joiin tlie New Whig^-., devoted to William III, and the Protestant Succession.
I. II. — Nutcrackers : a cant word for « pillory » {Diction-
142 NOTES TO P. (xii)
ary of the canting Crcd^, 1700 : the Cull lookt through- the Nutcrackers). De Foe was arrested on May 20 th, 1703, for \vriting Uie Shortest Way with the Dissent- ers in which by ironical suggesiting extreme measures against the Dissenters, he ridiculed the intolerance of High-Churchmen a.gai,n&t them. He was tried in July, found guilty of libel, and condemned to be exposed in the pillory on July 29 th in front of the Royal-Ex- change in Cornhill, on July 30th near the Conduit in Chea])side, and on July 31 st at Temple Bar. But this punishment was a triumph, as the crowd sided with ■him against the governniorjt.
I. 75 . — De Foe was not bribed b}' the Tories : he merely followed Harle}- who had rescued him from Newgate, when, in 1709, Harley entered the new ministry as a moderate Tory. This obliged De Foe to change the tone of the articles in his Review for fear of displeasing the (new friends of his patron.
I. 20. — It is true that for some time the Whigs did not perceive the change in De Foe's Review and continued to pay him.
/. 2j. — This happened in February 1711, as we know from a letter to Harley in which De Foe complains for the first time of the hard -usage he recei.ved from his old friends, the Whigs. The Captain was probably the of- ficer of the Whig club who paid De Foe for his pro- paganda.
I. 28. — In reality, these words were uttered by Samuel's ghost (I Sam. aS). Here Gildon ridicules De Foe's fondness for Bible quotations. Even in his correspond- ence, De Foe constantly quoted the Bible : thus, in a letter to the Secretary of State, dated April 26 th, 171S, he called watching the Tory papers in the inter- est of the Whig ministry : c ^bowing in the House of Rimmon ».
P. XHI. — I. 2. — Buenas Noches : the mistake in the text was made either by the printer, or by Eloyd, Gildon 's amanuensis, who was not a well-educated man and frequently spelt words wrong in the letters Gildon dictated to him. De Foe, in his novels, was fonu of quoting scraps of foredgn languages : here Gildon sat-
NOTES TO P. (xiii) 1 43
irizes this habit, and suggests De Foe's real ignorance by his humorous translation of the Spanish. /. 5. — Saint-Germain, near Paris, where James II held his court, was long the centre of Jacobite intrigues. Gildon alludes to the Jacobite tendencies of Harley's ministry ; but De Foe remained faithful to the Protes- tant Succession, so that Gildon's attack is unjust. L. 6. — Proprietors : i. e. Harley, Earl of Oxford, aJid Saint John, Viscount Bolingbroke, whose influence appears for a .short period in De Foe's writings, for example in the commercial aiewspaper M creator. I. 8. — In the Further Adventiircs, Crusoe's endeavour to burn an inoffensive Tartar Idol vphich he considered an insult to the true God brought on him and his companions the anger of the natives. I. 9. — In 1713 De Foe wrote anti-Jacobite pamphlets with ironical titles : Reasons against the succession of the House of Hanover, — What if the Pretender should come ? or some Considerations of the advantages and real conseqtiences of the Pretender's possessing the Crown of Great Britain, — and What if the Queen should die f — The Whigs tried hard to indict him for high treason, hoping that Harley would imprudently come to the rescue of his faithful ally, and thus reveal their relations.
I. II. — iripos, i. e. the three-legged stool, upon w^hich con- demned men stood when they were to be hanged at Tyburn (near Paddington). — • Gildon exaggerates here, for the Whigs did not hope to secure De Foe's death : they simply sought to have him imprisoned in New- gate.
/. 12-12. — Har.ley helped De Foe to obtain a Royal Pardotti, whii/ch was granted on Xo\-. 20 th, 17 13 and signed by Bolingbroke. De Foe published the text of his pardon in his Appeal to Honour and Justice.
1. 14. — This is inexact. Siince the king's landing in Eng- land, (Sep«t. iS th, 171.1.), De Foe had cessed corre- sponding with Harley ; he had deeply reseiiited the lat- ter's repudiation of tracts he had written in his behalf {History of the White Staff, etc.). His subsequent pam- phlets vindicating the conduct of Harley's ministry were written not on Harley's account, but to vindicate
144 NOTES TO P. (xiv)
himscli. (See Daniel De Foe mystificateur, in Revue Gcrmaniqiie, 1923).
/. iS-ig. — This is a slander : De Foe had a lax conscience, but there were three masters who could never have bribed h.im into their service : the Pope, the Pretender, and the Devil.
I. 23. — De Foe's faci'lity for writing bad i)oetry was deplor- able : John Dunton, the Whig bookseller, described him as « rhyming in his sleep ». But De Foe did not write Jure Dhnno in three weeks. This long poetical poem in 12 books, which he considered his master- ])iece, was begun in Newgate in the summer of 1703, and wat; issued by subscription on July 20 th, 1706. De Foe got very little money for his labours, as his poem was pirated by a bookseller who bribed a press- man to steal copies of the sheets as they were succes- sively pri.nted. — I^ is true, as Gi'ldon suggests, that there is Little poetry im the composition.
P. XIV. — I. I. — Dryden got £ 200 for his translation of Virgil. But Gildon is certainly referring to Pope, who received over ^ 5.000 for his translation of the Iliad
(1715)- I. 4. — Here Oildon enviousl)' alludes to Prior who re- ceived from his publisher about 4.000 guineas for a com- plete edition of his poems (1718, folio), and on the same occasion ^ 4.000 from Harley, to purchase Down Hall, an estate in Essex. I. 12. — In 1 701, De Foe, indignant at what he thought the ingratitude of his countrymen towards their deliverer, William of Orange, — and incensed by a poem of Tut- chin, the Foreigners, in which the King and the Dutch in general were plentifully abused, wrote a satirical ])oem to prove that the Euglish nation was such a mixture of the worst of different races, that the ex- pression True-born Englishman was meainjingless. The success of the poem was tiemendous : no less than So. 000 pirated copies were sold in the streets, and the King expressed a wish to know the author personally. — De Foe's poem has since been, used by enemies of Great Britain in the last years of the 19 th century : parts of it were republiished by Indian. Natioaialists.
NOTES TO P. (xv) 145
I j6. — Vanity, not hatred of the Eng-iish, was the chief motive that Jed De Foe to change his name (See p. V, note). De Foe seemed to indicate a Norman origin, while Foe looked like a plebeian Saxon name.
/. 24. — The idea of prepossessing the Papists in one's fa- vour would have been preposterous at a time when it was becoming more and more impossible that the Pre- tender would reign. — De Foe's love of paradox, shown in his Tnie-Born Englishman and Shortest Way with ine Dissenters is probably the motive that led him to iinitroduce some sympathetic Roman Catholics in Rob- inson Crusoe.
I. 27. — Fox-hunters, i. e. the country squires, many of whom, though Protestant, had remained attached to the Stuarts.
P. XV. — I. I. — Old teachers : i. e. the Dissenting minis- ters and Low-ohurchmeu.
I. 2. — A Friendly Epistle by way of Reproof, from one of the People called Quakers to Thos. Bradbury, a uealer in many Words (Feb. 1715) was the first of a series of pamphlets by De Foe, all couched in the Quaker style. The Friends' way of speaking was so well imitated that, in an advertisement in the London Gazette, the Quakers protested that they had no hand in the pamphlet which, by that time, had reached its 5 th edition. Bradbury was reproved by De Foe for making political addresses m the pulpit, and partic- ularly for calling for the blcod of the late ministers.
I. 5. — i. e. the Bishop of Bangor. De Foe's pamphlet (1717) was entitled A Declaration of Truth to Benja- min Hoadley, one of the High Priests of the Land, and of the Degree whom Men call Bishops. By a Minister- ing Friend, who writ to Thomas Bradbury, a Dealer in many Words. Gildon had certainly not read this pamphlet, which commended Hoadly's Christian broad-mindedness. It is true that De Foe, when he found these pamphlets had an easy sale, wrote several of them on (both sides of the Bangorian controversy. — He was so pleased with h\s talent in imitating tiie Quaker style that, in two novels. Captain Singleton
146 NOTES TO P. (xvi)
and Roxana, he introduced Cli-'aters who are among his best drawn oharaetexs.
I. 7. — Contrarj^ to Gildon's assertion, De Foe was only 59 in 1719. — The subsequent attack against De Foe for his supposed fickleness in religion is unjust, too : De Foe always remained a staunch Dissenter.
/. 10. — Coarse jokes of this kind were charactei'istic of the Augustan Period.
L 12. — Mahomctism, i. e. Mahometan,ism : though un- i:*ual, this form of the word was not absolutely incor- rect at this time.
I. I J. — Coryate, a traveller who from the year 1612 till his death (1617) journe\-ed throughout Asia. He obtained an audience of the Great Mogul and delivered an ora- tion in Persian. His letters, sent from the court of the mighty potentate to « several persons of quality in England », were first published in 1616; they were fre- quently reprinted in the 17 th and 18 th centuries.
I. 28. — This passage may have suggested to De Foe the idea of a review of the various religions of the world, which forms one of the longest chapters in the Serious Reflections. Crusoe concludes that English Protestant- ism is by far the best religion.
I 30. — lO catch a iartar properly means to encounter some one who unexpectedly proves to be too strong an opponent. There is of course a pun in the text. De Foe used this expression in Captain Singleton (XVI) : « Tell him, if he should try, he may catch a Tartar ». (Haz^litt's ed. p. 79).
A Leap into the Dark, -i. e. : if De Foe was eaigaged in a dangerous enterprise, whose consequences he was tinable to foresee.
i". XVI. — I. 3. — Janesaries, i. e.. Janizaries (or Janissa- ries), Turkish soldiers of a privileged class. I. 5. — You and I. — Gildon, later (p. 23, sec note) ac- cuses De Foe of continually putting the nominative for the accusative. .1. 6. — This is not true : De Foe was attached to the Prot- estant Succession, if merely through self-interest; for if the Pretender had succeeded Queen Anne, De Foe
NOTES TO P. (xvil) 147
would have been sent to the gallows for his anti-jaco- bite pamphlets. I. 8. — Monoviotopa is a negro empire in the Zambesi re- gion (Africa), about which fabulous tales were current at the time.
I. ig. — Deter all othtrf^ is, of course, ironical, as the fol- lowing lines show.
I. 21. — All Crusioe's adivcii.tures did in fact turn to his /proEt.
I 30-31. — Friday's curious English was intended by De Foe to give local colour to his tale. — Here, Gildon calls Robinson Crusoe a lie, i. e. a romance, which is inconsistent with his general statement that the book is allegorical.
?. XVII. — I. 2. — De Foe frequently quotes the Bible for the edification of his readers : in the first volume of Robinson Crusoe alone, no less than 20 complete verses are quoted. I. 7. — i. e. the French Priest, Will Atkins, Father Simon, and the Crew of Crusoe's nephew's ship (see note to p. IX, 1. 25). I
I 13. — If De Foe had written a criticism of Gildon's pam- phlet, he might have asked how every one of such a number of men could hold one of his limbs.
/. 25. — Bolus (Latin : morsel, bit), i. e. a large pill. The word was usual at the time in advertisements of quack medicines.
I. 2y. — The first volume of Robinson Crusoe contains 364 pages of text, wiith Frontispiece, tdtle-page and a pref- ace 2 pp. loaig. — The text of the Further Adventures occupies 373 pages with map, title-page and preface of 4 pp.
P. XVIII. — /. lo-ii. — Past three a clock, etc. : the cry of
the watchmen. I. 12. — There is perhaps here a reminiscence of the end of
the scene of the witches in Macbeth, which Gildon had
studied for his edition of the spurious 7 th vol. of
Shakespeare's Works. I. ij. — This coarse joke was a favourite with contemporary
pamphleteers. The author of a .broadsheet entitled t A
148 NOTES TO P. (xviii)
Hue and Cry after Daniel De Foe for Denying the Queens hereditary right, by Kobin Hog, 171 1, » direct- ed the same piece of coarse wit against De Foe :
Now Daniel De Foe, now run for thy life, For Robin Hog swears by's old grunting wife, He'll end all your government quarr'ls and strife... He'll hunt you thro' all the Fanatical race. Throw salt in. your breech lest you stimk in the chase. »
I. 21-22. — i. e. in 1(391-2. If the Royal Regiment had been removed, England would have been left defenceless, and a successful Jacobite invasion would have entailed punishment for William's zealous supporters.
/. 2^. — Gildon had already criticised this sentence in the Postscript to his epistle (p. 37), and his use of it here must have seemed very wittv* to contemporar}'' readers.
THE EPLSTLE
P. I. — I. 5. — Robinson Crusoe was issued anonymously ; but the author of such a « best-seller •» could not remain long undiscovered. De Foe's peculiar tricks of style were well-known from the Review which was very popular. /. S. — See the ^notes to pp. V (1. 4) and XIV (1. 16).
I /J. — De Foe was in fact over-fond of long-winded sen- tences with endless parentheses. He sometimes uses popular, but incorrect, forms, such as double negaitioms, 'cC'ho instead of whom, etc. He has frequent repetitions : I) of the same idea (« his famiily and household, a kind of appetite and lust ») ; 2) of the same word (p. 84 : « I catched hold of Friday : hold, said I ») ; amd 3) of the same descriptions (his ladders, his tame goats, etc.).
/. 14-15. — Practically, the whole of Gildon's criticism turns on the improbabilities a.nd impossibilities of De Foe's tale.
V. 2. — I. 5. — This charge had the pcwea.' of wounding De Foe to the quick (see the Preface to the Serious Reflections).
NOTES TO P. (2) 149
I. g. — The last sentence of Robinson Crusoe (published on April 25th, 1719) [« all these things, with an account how 300 Cariibb-ees came and amvaded them, a.nd xuinetl their plantations, a,nd how they fought with that num- ber twice, and were ait fi/st defeated and one of them killed ; but at last a storm destroying their enemies' canoes, they famished and destroyed almost all the rest, and renewed the possession of their plan- tation, and still lived upon the island; — all these things with some very surprising incidents in some new adventures of my own for ten years more, I may perhaps give a farther account of hereafter. »] shows that De Foe expected success. The Further Adven- tures, which were written hastily, appeared on August 20th. Oildon's epistle was composed before the publi- cation of this second volume.
I. 21. — Anything that was ancient found favour with Gil- don.
I. 23. — « Inspired writers » (i. e. the authors of the Bible) was Gildon's contemptuous expression when he wrote deistical tracts. (See Gildon's life).
I. 2']. — Useful Moral. — This is exactly what De Foe says in his preface to Robinson Crusoe : « The story is told... with a religious application of events to the uses to whioh wise men always apply them, vdz. To the instruction of others by this exiample, and to justify and honour the wisdom of Providence in all the variety of our circumstances, let them happen how they will. »
P. 3. — I. II. — When Robinson asked his mother to approacn 1ms father about his plans, she replied « that she won- dered how I could think of any such thing after such a discourse as I had had with my father, and such kind and tender expressions as she knew my father used to me; but I might depend I should never have their consent to it ; that for her part she would not have so much hand in my destruction ». And later, when Cru- soe, alone on his island, repents of his wicked life, he particularly deplores his « falling early into the seafaring life, which of all the lives is the most desti- tute of the fear of God ». So that there is much appar- ent truth in Gildon's criticism. But Robinson Crusoe
150 NOTES TO P. (4)
roused in many English boys their dormant desire cf travelli.ng to diistaut lainds, land so attracted them to a seafaring life.
/. ig. — < I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York... — My father... had designed me for the Law ». (Robin- son Crusoe, p. 17).
/ 24. — Here Gildon points out one of the characteristics oE rje Foe's work. God's Providence seems to have a spe- cial regard for Crusoe; sometimes it helps him, some- times it thwarts his designs. It pla\-s in fact the role of the Nemesis of the Ancients.
/. 25. — The first storm occurred during Crusoe's early voyage to London. The second, when his ship foundered and he was the sole survivor, flung him on his desert islaud.
P. 4. — I. 3, etc. — But i,n the dialogue (p. XVI), Gildon, who wishes to find fault with De P'oe at any price, i-nsinu- ated that Robinson Crusoe was an, immoral book be- cause, in it, Crusoe's disobedience to his parents was not punished.
I. 6. — The popular idea of the potency of the paternal coxrse is frequently expressed in De Foe's book. Crusoe's fa- ther makes a prophecy (p. 18) : « That boy might be happy if he would stay at home, but if he goes abroad, he will be the most miserable wretch that was ever born », (which, as it turns out, is not entirely true). At the end of his first voyage, Crusoe is told by the Cap- tain of the ship he was embarked in (p. 21) : « Young man, depend upon it, if you do not go back, wherever you go, you will meet with nothing but disasters aiud disappointments tiill your father's words are fulfilled upon you ». — Lastly Crusoe, alone on the island, laments (p. 45) : « Now my dear father's words are come to pass : (iod's justice has overtaken me, and I have none to help or hear me ».
I. 10-20. — In Puritan families the authority of the father was still very great. De Foe described a Puritan, and wrote for Puritan readers.
I. 30. — Crusoe was born in 1632, and left his father's house in Sept. 1651.
NOTES TO P. (5) 151
P. 5. — L 3. — See i]iote on. p. VI {]. 9). — Gildon's argument here is cunnmg enougli, but De Foe might have an- swered that, after ajll, Crusoe came to fortune and happiness.
I. 16. — « He told me it was for men of desperate fortunes on one hand, or of aspiring, superior fortunes on the other, who went abroad upon adventures, to rise by enterprise, and make themselves famous in undertak- ings of a nature out of the common road ; that these thimgs were all either too far alxjve me, or too far below me ; tliat mine was the middle state, or what might be called the upper station of low life... » (p. 17).
I. 18. — Though Crusoe's father did not apeak of putting his son to a trade, we know that he had contemplated it some time or other. — Crusoe represents to his mother « that he was iS years old, which was too late to go apprentice to a trade ». And a few lines lower, he says that « he continued obstinately deaf to ail proposals of settling to business ». — GiMon's arguments concern- ing Crusoe's problematic trade are tedious and far- fetched : his criticism, which sometimes contradicts itself, is, in general, mere fault-finding.
P, 6. — /. ig. — See the note to p. VII. De Foe meant that Crusoe's edaication was begun at home and finished in a free-school, at, or near, York. He could not assign to his hero a particular school or unaversity, as the Gil- dons of the time might then have proved that the book was « a lie » and thus greatly diminished its sale.
I. 22. — De Foe does not give us definitely to understand that Robinson remained in his « country free-school » till the age of iS.
I. 23. — This statement, and a paragraph (p. X, 1. 26) in the dialogue insinuate that De Foe was no scholar and did not know Latin.
1. 28. — This attack on attorneys is excusable when we
remember that Gildon, when still a very young man, was cheated out of £ 400 by a dishonest lawyer (see Gil- don's life, I).
2. 2g. — « But I would be satisfied with nothing but going to
sea, and my inclination to this led me so strongly against the will, nay, the commands of my father... that
152 NOTES TO P. (7)
there seemed to be something fatal in that propension of nature tending directly to the life of misery which was to befall me ». (p. 17). — « I told my mother that my thoughts were ^o entirely bent nj>on seeing the world, that I should never scUle to anything with reso- lution enough to go through with it, and my father had better give mc his consent, than force me to go with- out it )> (p. i3).
r. 7. — I. 5. — But De Foe's intention was to represent a rash and inconsiderate boy, unable to resist the strong im- pulse that urged him to a seafaring life.
/. 14. — Crusoe never used this expression of himself; but it is true he laments that in his youth he often acted aigainst « the dictates of commoiL semse and (of his own conscience ».
L 75. — Crusoe, belonging to a Puritan family, would not, when very young, have dared to oppo'=e paternal authority.
/ 2r. — Certainly De Foe does not relate conversations be- tween Crusoe and the master of the Sihip, but a novelist is not obliged to tell ever>-thing.
/. 26. — Gildon is right in pointing out this contradiction. De Foe gives us to understand that the master of the ship knew of Crusoe's presence on board at the begin- ning (p. 18), and he would need to have a very short memory to have forgotten it at Yarmouth.
/. 30. — € 1 told him some of m\' story, at the end of which he burst out with a strange kind of passion. « What had I done 1), says he, « that such an unhappy wretch should come into my ship ' I would not set my foot in the same ship with thee again for a tliousand pounds » (p. 21). — This superstitious belief in the evil eye was common among sailors (cp. Further Adv. pp. 64-65).
r. 8. — I. I. — (Jonah, I). « Perhaps this all has befallen us on your account, like Jonah in the Ship of Tarshish », the master tells Crusoe (p. 21). I. 6. — De Foe's habit of perpetually quoting the Bible was due to his upbringing. His father, James Foe, a well- to-do butcher of Fore-street, destined him for the minis-
NOTES TO P. (8) 153
try. His mother, Alice Foe, made him copy the whole Pentateuch as a task. The boy was sent to Morton's Dissenting Academy in Newington Green. He might have become a peaceful Non-conformist minister, but « his inclinationjs led him anolher way ». (Rev. VI, 341). — Some traces remained of his training, however ; his articles in the Review for instance, and many of his pamphlets, almost look like sermons.
i. 7. — When Christ was tempted in the wilderness (Matt. IV, 6).
I. 12. — Hazlitt's ed. p. 21.
/. 17-18. — There is much truth in this criticism : De Foe's heroes have all of them some traits of the Dissenting preacher in their character.
I. 18-24. — A very awkwardly constructed sentence. Gildon's thought is as follows ; « which I should as little suspect him to be... as {I should suspect) that... »
I. 2j. — But Crusoe was sea-sick and terrified, and unable to reflect calmly, so that the terrific noise of the gun seemed to him the signal of immediate death.
a
P. 9. — I. 2. — Crusoe's conception of Providence is unortho- dox, but it is part of his character. (See note to p. 3, 1. 24).
/ ij etc. — Crusoe, a superstitious Puritan of the lower mid- dle class could not be expected to reason like Gildon.
— De Foe himself, though he believed in « secret hints » did not share the superstitious ideas of his hero.
P. 10. — I. 4, etc. — This comparison between the dangers and wickedness of life on sea and life on land is utterly futile.
I. 24. — A creature of your own : this idea is repeated on p. II (1. 7). It shows that when he wrote this epistle,
— that is, before he had read the preface to the Fur- ther Adventures, — Gildon did not yet consider the tale allegorical. (See : Introduction).
I. 27. — Being a Puritan, Crusoe was always inclined to exaggerate his sins, and trembled all day long in fear of God's wrath.
P. II. — I. 10. — No ways necessary : De Foe's art consists exactly in this choice of small details, unnecessaiTy to
154 NOTES TO P. (ll)
the plot, which give an api>earance of truth to his tale. Many people read Robinson Crusoe because they be- lieved it a tnie biograph}'^ : a Fable would not have int- erested them. Yet Do Foe, in the preface, with his cus- tomary prudence, had clever!}- insinuated a doubt of the authenticity of ihis tale : « The Editor believes the thing to be a just history of fact ; neither is there any appearance of fiction in it; and howcvci thinks, because all such things are disputed, that the improvement of it, as well to the diversion as to the instruction of the reader, will be the same... »
/. II. — Gildon copies many of De Foe's peculiar tricks of style. More of this hereafter is a favourite sentence of De Foe's. — Gildon copies other phrases from Robinson Crusoe : of which by and by (p. 15), of which in its place, etc.
I. 12. — Monsieur is used with a contemptuous meaning. Since the Restoration the word was applied to fops and rakes. Cp. Wycherley's Gentleman Dancing-Master, and Swift's Salamander :
« We say monsieur to an. ape. Without offence to human shape. »
Z. jf. — « We walked afterwards on foot to Yarmouth, where, as unfortunate men, we were used with great humanity, as well by the magistrates of the town, who assigned us good quarters, as by particular merchants and owners of ships ; and had money given us suffi- cient to carry us either to London, or back to Hull as we thought fit » (p. 20).
/. 77. — Gildon exaggerates : Crusoe only says « he had mon- ey in his jx)cket and good clothes upon his back » (p. 21).
/. 21. — Crusoe tells us (p. 21) : « I embraced the offer; aad, entering into a strict friendship with this captain, who was an honest and plain-dealing man, I went the voyage with him, and carried a small adventure with me, which, by the disinterested honesty of my friend the captain, I increased ve''y considerably, for I car- ried about 40 I. in such toys and trifles as the captain directed me to buy. This 40 /. I had mustered together by the assistance of some of my relations whom I cor-
NOTES TO P. (12) 155
responded with, ajid who, I believe, got tny father, or at least my mother, to contribute so much as that to my first adventure ». It is not unlikely that a father should help a son, once he realised he was bent on keeping to the course of life he had chosen. Gildoni himself, on the following page, suggests this possibility.
P. 12. — /. 5. — But Crusoe was young and unhappy, and what would not a father, even a Puritan father, do to relieve the distress of a son, even of a disobedient S'0<n ?
./. 77. — Here Gildon misrepresents the text. Crusoe buys « good clothes », which is but natural after the wreck, and in I^ondon falls « into good company, which does not always happen to such loose and unguided young fellows » ; the chief of his new friends is the Guinea trader, « an honest and plain-dealing man. ».
/. 75. — Crusoe was not a « 3'oung gentleman » travelling for his pleasure », but a boy who, having to earn his living, took to a seafaring life because urged to it by his « rambling thoughts ».
I 2$. — Gildon uses on purpose an equivocal term to name the widow of the Guinea trader who was « so just » to Crusoe. On p. 105 Crusoe calls her : « my benefactor and faithful steward ».
I. 2g. — Sallee, i. e. Sale. a holy city on the coast of Morocco, which was, during the i8th century, the chief harbour of pirates on the Atlantic coast of Africa.
P. 13. — I. I. — This episode is very dramatically told in De Foe's novel.
I 5. — Hazards and Adventures : i. e. Crusoe's successive landings on the coast of Africa in order to get fresh water. He meets peaceful negroes who supply him with food, and kills several wild beasts.
I. 13. — Here Gildon recalls a statement made by De Foe, that Crusoe « had nobody to communicate his projects of escape to, that would embark with him, no fellow slave, no Englishman, Irishman, or Scotsman, but him- self ». But De Foe contradicts himself; a few lines fur- ther, Crusoe mentions « the carpenter of the ship, who also was an English slave » (p. 22). — and again on p. 24 he states : « Such English Xury spoke by convers-
156 NOTES TO P. (14)
ing among us slaves ». — The real i.neonsisteiicy in the episode has not been perceived by Gildon.
I. 23. — Cape Verde, still a Portuguese colony.
I. 2~. — Skins : i. e. the skins of the wild animals he had killed on the coast of Africa.
/. 29. — Crusoe's chief motive for turning Papist was that he could not have stayed in the country if he had been an heretic. At his age he had no religious preference of any kind ; he tells us that he 4 had no scruple of being openly of the religion of the country all the while he was among them » (p. loS).
P. 14. — /. J. — See note to p. VI (il. 9). — But thj« has nothing to do with Popery. It is a superstition common to the followers of all religions.
I 73. — Crusoe, like his creator, care<i little about humani- tarian ideals. He was too matter-of-fact to indulge in philosophical musings about tlie ethics of a custom that was highly advantageous for his trade. The absence of any denunciation of the slave traffic hindered the popu- larity of Robinson Crusoe in America for a long time. — In Colonel Jack, De Foe advocates good treatment for slaves, but not the suppression of slavery.
/. 25. — The discussion is futile. Crusoe says « twenty or thirty feet » not to give a precise number, but simply to convej' a vague impression of depth.
P. 15. — I. 12. — K Also I found three very good bdbles which came to me in my cargo from England, and which I had packed up among m\- things ; some Portuguese books also, and among them two or three popdsh prayer-books, and .several other books, all which I care- fully secured » (p. 37). Crusoe does not seem to have ever opened any of those books, except the Bible. Like Gildon we wonder wh}-, on a Portuguese .ship, he needed 3 English bibles.
I. 22. — This attack is unjust. Crusoe's commentaries on the Bible are simple and full of common-sense. — It was 3 custom among the Puritans, when in doubt about any- thing, to oi)en the Bible at random, and take the first verse they found as guidance (cp. the Pilgrim's Pro- gress, Enoch Arden, etc.). (See note to p. 24, 1. 29).
NOTES TO P. (15) 157
1. 26. — See note to p. 11, 1. 11.
I. 2j. — This absurdity had already been pointed out and ridiculed in the coffee-houses. The text is : « So I pulled off my clothes, for the weather was hot to extremity and took to water... I found that all the ship's provi- sions were dry aad unitouch<-^d by the water ; and being very well disposed to eat, I went to the bread room and filled my pockets with biscuit, and eat it as I went about other things... y — De Foe was conscious of the contradiction and tried to mend matters in one of the next paragraphs : a While I was doing this, I found the tide began to flow, though very calm ; and I had the mortification to see my coat, shirt, and waistcoat, which I had left on shore upon the sand, swim away ; as for my breeches, which were only linen and open -kneed, I swam on board in them and in my stockings » (p. 32). — But the only way out of the difficulty would be to suppose that Crusoe's breeches were not part of his « clothes », which is ridiculous. — De Foe did not, as Gildon asserts, make any change in the subsequent editions of his novel. Gildon had evidently heard the contradiction discussed in conversation, and when the whole passage was read to him, he fancied that De Foe's afterthought was a modificatiion of the text, prompted iby the ridicule it had excited.
P. 16. — I. 6. — Gildon 's criticism is reasonable enough, though we do not know whether Crusoe's breeches were of the ordinary pattern of the breeches of seamen of that time.
I. 15. — Page 77 of the ist ed. ; i. e. p. 37 in Hazlitt's ed.
I 16. — These inconsistemcies are glaring enough. Crusoe's items in the balance of evil and good seem strange to us when we have just read of the useful tools he found in the wreck.
I. 30. — This applies to Wycherley, or — more likely — to Pope, whom Gildon frequently accused of being un- grateful (See the New Rehearsal, and the Life of Mr. Wycherley).
L 3:. — i. e. p. 34 in Hazlitt's ed.
P. 17. — /. 7. — There is an inconsistency between De Foe's account in the narrative, and that in the Journal. Gil-
6
158 NOTES TO P. (17)
doll's first quotation is taken from the narrative. The seoQiid quotaition iis taken from the Journail uiiidiei' the date May i st, and it corresponds to wJiat had been pre- viously said in tlie Journal (not in the .narrative) under the date Oct. 25111 : « It rained all inight and all day, witi'. .some gusts oi wind, during which time the ship broke in pieces, the wind blowing a little harder than before and was /no more to be seen, except the wreck of licr, and that only at low water ». / 7^. — To the ordinary Bnglish mind, this would seem the most telling of Gildon's attacks against De Foe. The paSvSage quoted will be found on p. 5S in Ilazlitt's cd.
P. 18. — l. 4. — Here Gildon, when it suits his argnmeait, acknowledges that De Foe praised some English sailors, — which contradicts the statement on p. VIII (see the note to 1. 11). I. 14. — But Crr.soe must have frequented common sailors : I" on the ship that took him to Guinea. — 2° on the ship that picked him up at Cape Verde. — 3° on the ship that was wrecked off the American coast, — and 4° on the ship that brought him back to England. /. ij. — « However the storm vras so violent, that I saw, what is not often seen, the master, the boatswain, and some obhers, more iS'Cnsi.ble than the rest, at their I^rayers, and expecting ev'Oi'y moment when the ship wo-ild go to the bottom » (o. 20). But De Foe says that this conduct of the sailors was nnnsual : so it does tnot contiadivt lis genera^ statement about the « wicked- ness of a seafaring lite ». I. Z2 — Cnisue ne\er tells ns definitely that this happened
in 3 weeks. I. 24. — During the first storm, which was not dangerous, but made « Crusoe sick and terrified, the saiilors laughed at his fear : « Well, Bob,... how do you do after it ? I vvaitant you were frighted, wa'n't you, last night when it blew but a capfull of wiind ? — A capfull do 3-ou ca.ll it, said I, it was a terrible storm. — A storm, you fool you, replies he, do you call that a storm ? Why it was nothing at all ; give us but a good ship and sea-room, and we think nothing of such a squall of wind as that ; but you 're but a fresh water sailor. Bob ;
NOTES TO P. (19) 159
come, let us make a bowl o£ punch, and we'll forget all that » (p. 19). l. 28. — But De Foe did not wish to describe a hero. Crusoe was an ordinary man, full of human weakness, who thought of God only when he was in danger.
P. ig. — I. I. — v The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge : but fools despise wisdom and instruc- tion. » {Prov. I, 7).
I. 3. — But^the fear of danger is natural, and is found in pious men too, along with the fear of the Lord.
I. 20. — Gildon is right, according to Catholic or Anglican ideas. But Crusoe was a Puritan of the old stamp, pre- ferring the Old Testament to the New, and believing in a vindictive Jehovah rather than in a mild and for- giving Christ. — This long and futile argument arises simply from the fundamental difference in religious point of view between Gi)ldon and De Fee.
/. 27. — There is some truth in this statement, as selfish- ness was De Foe's chief defect. But what of Gildon, who « kept six whores and starved his modest wife ? »
/. 30. — Pusillanimity : Here Gildon's attack seems to be directed particular!}' against the peaceful Quakers.
P. 20. — I. J. — Crusoe began to feel the weight of God's wrath when he became very ill of the ague : « through all the variety of miseries that had to this day befallen me, I never had so mnch as one thought of it being the band of God, or that it was a just punishment for my sin, my rebellious behaviour against my father, or my present sins, which were great, or so much as a punishment for the general course of my wicked life r. (p. 44). Afterwards, wheoi frightened by the earth- quake, he declared that « God had appointed all this to befall him » ^p- 45)-
/. 2. — Sublvvary is a favourite word with De Foe (for e:s. p. 87 : in a sublunary state). The word seems to have been fashionable at the time :
« Strolling Gods, whose usual trade is... To pick up sublunary ladies. »
(Swift : Apollo Outwitted).
l6o NOTES TO P. (21)
1. 3 etc. — Gildon's reasoning is extremely confused. He probably thinks at first of the Puritans of the Cota- monwealtli who committed « both private and public . murders » because they believed Giod would have pun- ished theou icf tlie}- did aiot reveu'ge Hiim agaiusit un- believers. The su{)erstitious fear of the Lord, which prompted such crimes, is confused by Gildon with that fear of material loss which prompts dishonesty and conquest. Besides there were other causes than fear, for the cruelty of the Spandards in Mexico : viz. greed and lust. — De Foe might have retorted to Gildon that more crimes are caused by ambition and passion than by a fanatic fear of God.
'. 3/. — To return is another favourite phrase of De Foe's (Hazlitt's led. p. 47). Sec r.iOte to p. 11 (1. 11).
P. 21. — i. 5. — « I first fell acquainted with the master of a ship who had been on the coast of Guinea... and who, taking a fancy to my conversation, which was not at ail disagreeable at that time, ...told me... I should be his messmate and his companion ». (p. 2^).
1.20. — Notions : not so settled as all that! Crusoe, it is true, had received « a good instructicin of his father » ; hut, as he tells us himself, he had « a certain stupidity of soul, without desire of good or conscience of evil », (p. 44) : so that when he entered on a « seafaring life » he « entertained only a little sense of religion ». (p. 58).
/. 23. — These were not the only times : see note to p. 18 (1. 14).
P. 22. — I. g. — Gildon forgets there was a Scotchman on board the Portuguese ship which rescued Crusoe (Haz- litt's ed. p. 26).
/. 12. — Fifth Voyage : the first was from HiiU to Yarmouth; the second to Guinea, the third to Guinea again, but Crur.oe V7as captured on the way by a Turkish rover ; the fourth to Brazil.
/. 75. — (jildon forgets that in this voyage there was fair weather for 12 days before the storm broke.
/. 18. — Gildon's attack is beside the point. De Foe had a right to choose a wicked character for his hero ; Robin- son's defects prove nothing against him.
NOTES TO P. (23) 16 r
P. 23. — I. iS. — i. e. p. 61 in Hazlitt's ed.
l. 21-22. — This is not j>erhaps logical, but the type of ex- pression is common in English (cp. better than best).
1 2g. — Here are a few examples of De Foe's use of who for whom : « His name was Ishmael, who they call Mo- ley », « the boy who they called Xury » (p. 23). (Cp. in the Complete English gentleman, p. 100 : « a gen- tleman who I had long had an injtimacy with »). But De Foe does not always make this mistake; he writes : « from whom I was called Robinson » (p. 17), 0 some of my relations whom I corresponded with » (p. 21) (Cp. Complete English gentleman, p. 100 « like Solo- mon's fool, ot whom... »).
P. 24. — I. I. — De Foe, in fact, does not tell us how Crusoe managed to let the goat escape (p. 63).
I. 5-5. — This happened when Crusoe, trying to saiil round
the island, was carried away b}^ the current (p. 60). /. 7. — But Crusoe tells us that he stored provisions in his -boat before starting : « I victualled my ship for the voyage, putting in two dozen of my loaves (cakes I should rather call them) of barley bread, an earthen pot full of parched rice, a food I eat a great deal of, a little bottle of rum, half a goat, and powder with shot for killing more, and two large watch coats. » p. 60). — These provisions were easily sufficient for 5 or 6 days. '. (). - • G'ldon's herd of goats consisted at the time of one kid !
/. JO. — i. e. when Crusoe, in terror at the sight of the foot- print, remained hidden in his castle for 3 days (p. 67).
/. 75. — « Abundance of such things as these assisted to argue me out of all apprehensions of its being the dev- il ; and I presently concloided that it must be some more dangerous kind of creature, viz. that it must be some of the savages of the main land over against me ». (p. 66). — Crusoe's practical common sense led him to conclfude that the immediate danger of flesh-and- blood savages was greater than the problematic daaiger of an hypothetic devil.
.1. 20. — Gildon is right here. De Foe was paid according to the bulk ol his books, and his tendenc}- was of course
l62 NOTES TO P. (24)
to make his works as loiig as possible. Thus Crusoe's- journal simply repeats the narrative. The same moral reflections recur over and over again : for example Cru- soe's ideas about the wickedness of sailors are set forth in the same terms on pp. 44 and 58.
i. 2§. — « To trifle with sacred things ». — Gildon was proud of his Latim and. liked to show his superiority over De Foe in this respect.
/. 29. — Sortes Virgilianac : a form of divination which con- sisted in taking the first passage on which the eye fell on opening a volume of Virgil as pTophcsyiing fiuture events, or indicating a line of action to be taken. Cru- soe used the Bible instead of Virgil's works : but so did all Non-conformists.
P. 25. — I. 4. — So Gildon condemns De Foe's didactic idea of 'teaching biblical lessons by meianns of a fictitious' tale, thus using Art in the service of Religion.
/. 7. — This is Lticilio Vanini (1585-1619), an Itailian philos- opher who, like Bruno, professed sceptical views and even preached atheism. He staj-ed a short time in Eng- land (1614) but was imprisoned in London for 49 days on account of his doctrines. Later, he was arrested in Toulouse and condemned as an atheist to have his tongue cut out and to be strangled at the stake, — which sentence was carried out. I. S. — The Freethinker, a collection of essays on Ignorance, Superstition, Biootry, etc. Intermixed with several pie- ces of Wit and Humour; by Amlwose Phillips, Boulter, etc. — N" I was published on March 24 th, 1718, and. n" 159 (the last) on Sept. 28 th, 1719).
I. jj. — Crusoe, like a good middle-class Englishman, natu- rally enough thought first of beer. It is curious, never- theless, that De Foe did not think of the easier possi- bility of making wine. But Crusoe had no casks for either, and had not succeeded in making any. (p. 70).
I 21. — i. e. p. 72 in Hazlitt's ed. t It came now very warm- ly upon my thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, that now was my time to get a servant, and perhaps a compan- ion or assistant, and that I was called plainly by Pro- vidence to save this poor creature's life ». (p. 81). — c l^t no man despise the secret hints and notices of
NOTES TO P. (25) 163
danger ! » (p. 96). — « Let aio man sJight the strong- impulses of his own thoughts » (p. 109). — The same idea is repeated on pp. 49, 66, 71, 90, etc.).
I. 30. — The Daimon of Socrates was probably some kimd of internal voice, akin to De Foe's « secret hints ».
P. 26. — I. J. — Girolamo Cardan (or Cardano) (1501-1576), famous as a mathematician published in 1543 a treatise on astrology in which he prided himself particularly
on ihaviing ibieeai \-ouchs.afed the assistance of a guard- ian demon.
I. 5. — This applies to all visionaries and to many Catholic
saints. But their guardian angel, not their patron saint,
was their guide. — In Hitdibras (II, i), Butler ridiculed
the stor}- of Saiait Francis. In the Serious Reflections,.
■< l-oz iiimr,elf ridiculed the legends of Popish Sainits.
/. 12. — Be Foe's words are : « while I wais cutting down some wood here. I perceived that behamd a very thick branch of low brushwood, or underwood, there was a kind of hollow place... I found it was pretty larg-e, that is to say, sufficient for me to stand upright in it... ; but I must confess to you I made more haste out than I did in : when looking further i.nto the place, which was perfectly dark, I saw two broad shining eyes of some creature, whether devil or man I knew not, which twinkled like two stars, the dim light from the cave's mouth shining directl}^ ini, and making the reflection. » (P- 73)- ~- He repeats on the same page : « The place I was in was a most delightful cavity, or grotto, of its kind, as could be expected, though perfectly dark. » (If the work dark was suppressed, the contradiction would disappear). Cox, the piratical abridger of the novel, made matters sitill worse. He wrote : « Peeping further into the place, and which was totally dark, 1 saw two glaring e3'es of some creature I knew not, which twinkled like stars, the light from the cave's mouth shining directly in, and making the reflection ». (p. 154). The anonj-mous author of the abridgment of the three volumes of Robinson Crusoe (1724) paid care- ful heed to Gildon's criticism, and, in summing up this -episode, suppressed the wo'ds dark and darkness.
164 NOTES TO P. (27)
I 22. — When Crusoe baked his bread, he told us : « Then I wanted a mill to grind it (the corn), sieves to dress it, yeast and salt to make it into bread. » (p. 54). — But, on p. 84, he offered salt to Friday, who « spat and sputtered at it, washing his mouth with fresh watei- after it. >
/. 26. — De Foe nowhere says that the victims were bound or fettered.
P. 27. — /. /. — Gilldon is right in pointing out this incon- sistency. A few days after the first anniversary of his landing (p. 49), Crusoe says : « My ink began to fail me », — and, after the third year, (p. 5S) : « My ink had been gone for some time ». But on the 28 th year of his stay (p. 96), he says : « I gave him a strict charge in writing. »
I. 75. — « I had been accustomed enough to the sea, and 3'et 1 had a strange aversion to go to England by sea at that time » (p. 109).
I 21. — The epithet tnonstrous is not exaggerated. De Foe evidently wanted to fill up a number of pages, and imagined this ridiculous story, which, he knew, would be a subject of wonder and adnairation to many a cook and apprentice. He was a good business man, and willing to gratify the popular taste for sensational stories.
P. 28. — i. 4. — « O ! O ! O ! says Friday three times, pointing to the bear, O master ! you give me te leave, me shakee te hand with him, me makee you good laugh. » (p. no).
I. 6. — « So down he sits, and gets his boots off in a mo- ment, and puts on a pair of pumps, as we call the flat shoes they wear, and which he had in his pocket, and gives my other servant his horse, and, with his gun, away he flew, swift like the wind. » (p. no).
I. 8. — « Friday, who had, as we say, the heels of the bear, came up with him quickly, and takes up a great stone and throws at him, and hit him just on the head, but did him no more harm than if he had thrown it against a wall. » (p. iii). — But it was quite possible for Friday to find a stone in the snow which was not very deep.
I
NOTES TO P. (29) 165
I- 13- — There are bears in the mountaius of Venezuela and. British Guiana, so that Friday might have seen some during the wanderings of his tribe, (cp. p. VII).
I- I?- — Friday climbs up a tree, and the angry bear fol- lows him closely : « When we came to the tree, there was Friday got out to the small of a large limb of the tree, and the bear got about half way to him. As soon as the bear got out to that part where the limb of the tree was weaker. Ha, isays he to us, now you see me teachee the bear dance ; sd he falls a-jumping and shaking the bough, at which the bear began to totter, but stood still, and began to look behind him to see how he should get back. » (p. ml.
/ 25. — See note to p. IX, I. 2.
i. 26, etc. — These later travels are announced in the last page of the novel, which shows that De Foe expected success and was preparing a second volume.
THE POSTSCRIPT
P. 29. — I. n. — Thie 2 nd vol of Robinson Crusoe {Further Adventures) was issued on Aug. 20 th, 1719. Gildon's Postscript was written in the last da3's of August and the beginning of September.
/. 21. — « Our old Portuguese pilot brought a Japan mer- chanit to us, who began to inquire what goods we had ; and in the first place, he bought all our opium and gave us a ver}^ good price for it ». {Further Adv. p. 76).
I. 24. — The second vol. is in fact much inferior to the first. It contains many tedious passages, such as the epi- sode of Atkins's conversion, Crusoe's dearli/ng in China etc., but it is an exaggeration to say that it everywhere « prepares you for sleep ».
P. 30. — I. 10. — « The success the former part of this work has met with in the world, has yet been no other than iis acknowedged to be due to the surprising variet}- of the subject and to the agreeable manner of the per- formance » .
I /J. — By the word judicious, Gildon means the same thing as rational (p. 28), i. e. amy reader not belong-
100 NOTES TO P. (30)
iug- to the vulgar class that was delighted at the time by Guy of Warwick.
I. 20. — There are exactly 24 sheets in Robinson Crusoe.
/. 2ji. — It must be acknowledged that there are many di- gressions, such as the description of the starving maid (P- 52) > "!' the disparagement of Chinese greatness (p. 78), which have no connexion whatever with the narrative.
I. 2S. — Canting is tlie epithet whicli a severe critic might justl}?^ app]^- to Crusoe's religion.
I. 30. — « By this [i. e. abridging the work by the suppres- sion of all didactic elements] they leave the work na- ked of iits brightest ornaTnends » (Pref.).
V. 31. — /. 1-2. — There is some trutli in Gildon's criticism, but De Foe was naturally long-winded, and wrote exactly as a garrulous person talks. — The price of each vol. of Robiiisoii Crusoe was 5 «. I. 7. — Gildon is right in complaining that the first pages of tlic Journal are a mere repetition of the events Cru- soe had already told « in plain narration ». De Foe was very careless in matters of style and composition.
I. ij. — These repetitions are to be fonnd chiefly in the Journal (for example : « rain all day », « very ill ><, etc.) ; but they are natural in the diary of a « plain honest man ».
I. i~. — Hudibras II, 1st c. 1. 9-12. — (juoting from memory, Gildon changed the words slightly :
« Is't not enough to make one strange. That some mens fancies should ne'er change ? But make all people do, and say, The isame thi^igs istill the self-same way. »
(The reading in the first authorized edition of the second line was : « That a mans fancy should ne'er change*)
/. 23. — See the -notes to p. 1 (1. 13) and p. 23 (1. 29).
I. 26. — In fact the Further Adventures had a second edi- tion before the end of the year.
P. 32. — I. I. — t All tlie endeavours of envious people to reproach it with being a romance, to search it for cr-
NOTES TO P. (32) 167
rors in geograph)^ inconsistency in the relation, and contradictions in the fact, have proved abortive, and as ipipotent as malicious ». — This shows that the success of Robinson Crusoe had been much discussed in coffee-houses. — The word abortive in the meaning of fruitless was not unusual in De Foe's time. Cp. Addison, Cato, III, 7 :
« Our first design, my friends, has prov'd abortive •. I. 8. — But the great Pope himself had told vSpence : « The first part of Robinson Crusoe is very good ; De Foe wrote a vast many things, and none bad, though none excellent, except this ».
I. 18. — a If Nature refuses, IndigTiation makes verses ». Juv. Sat. I, 79.
I. 26. — In spite of this assertion there was much envy in Gildon's soul when he considered the tremendous suc- cess achieved by a rival writer.
P. 33. — I. 2-3. — De Foe's sta/tement in the Preface to the first vol. was : « The editor believes the thing to be a just history of fact ». — In the begiinning of the 18 th century the novel was not yet biorn,, and a book of which « it is all a lie » could be said, was doomed to failure.
I. II , etc. — Gildon is unjust. The book tends to prove that man is entirely in the hands of Cod, Who never fails to punish him for his sins.
/.. 18. — See the r.otes to p. VI (1. 9), p. 3 (il. 24) etc.
P. 34. — /. 2. — « And this makes the abridging this work as scandalous as it is knavish and ridiculous, seeing, while to shorten the book that they may seem to reduce the value, they strip it of all tliose reflections, as well religious as moral, which are not only the great- est bieauties of the work, but are calculated for the infinite advantage of the reader ». (Pref.). — De Foe alludes to a piratical abridgment of the first volume, which wa/s issued in the beginning of August by a bookseller named Cox, at the price of 2 s. Taylor, De Foe's editor, denounced this book in his advertise- ment of the 4t,a ed. of Robinson Crusoe : «. The pretend- ed abridgmetut of tliis book clandestinely printed for T.
1 68 NOTES TO r. (54)
Cox does not contain the third part of the work ; but consists onl}' of some scattered passages, incoherently tacked together ; wherein the author's sense through- out IS wholh- mistaken, the maitters of fact misre- presented, and the moral reflections misapplied. It's hoped the Public will not give encouragement to so base a practice, the proprietor intending to prosecute the vendors according to Law » (Daily Courant for Aug. Stli, 1719). — Cox's abridgment (pp. 259) is cer- tainly very bad : for example, we are not told that Crusoe saw a footprint on the sand, so that the sequel becomes incoherent. — Ta3'loi began a suit in Chan- cer}- for the p'Totection of his copyright. In the Flybig Post for October 2gth, Cox replied that the book had been published b}' his firm without his knowledge, while he was absent in Scotland, and he threatened to disclose some secrets about De Foe. The prosecu- tion was stopped. — Cox died a few months later. (See the Pref. to the Serious Reflections). i. 3. — But Gildon himself would have been extremely angry if a pirated edition of his Art of Poetry had been sold chea]>er than the authorized edition, thus depriv- ing kim of part of his benefit. I. 6. — Justiji : a Latin historian who lived before the 5 th cent. A.l). His work, Historiarum Philippicariim Libri XLVI is described by himself in the preface as an abridgment of an older history written in the time of Augustus b}' Trogus Pompcius ; this work, Histo- riae Philippicac et totitis Muiidi origines et Terrae si- ti{s, was probably ousted from public favour by Jus- tin's shorter book. A new English version of Justin's work, by Thomas Prown, appeared in 1712, and replaced Codrington's older translati<)n.
I. /J. — Darius Tibertus, or rather Daiio Tiberti was born at Cesena ; he died in the beginning of the 16 th cent. He made a Latin abridgment of Plutarch's Lives (Epitome vitarum Plutarchi, Ferrare 1501), an edition of which was issued in Paris in 1573. It was translated into French in the same year. Tiberti 's work was used by David Lloyd in the abridgment of the Lives which he published in 1665.
I. i-j. — Guarini : this is evidently a mi.stake for Guicciar-
NOTES TO P. ' "5 169
dini (1482-1540) whose History of ILrJy was translated into English by Fenton as early as 1579 (new editions in 1599, 161S). Abridgments of it were published in England by Dallington in 1615 (republished in 1629).
I. 18. — This is of course Pliny the Naturalis-t (23-79), but it does not appear his works were ever abridged in Latin. The whole of the Natural History was translated into English by Philemon Holland (1601).
I. ig. — Fontenelle (1657-1757), the great French philoso- pher, whose History of Oracles (16S7) was immediateh^ translated into English and created a sensation in the philosophical world.
I 21. — Sir William Temple (1628-99), the great statesman and essayist, professed himself an. enthusiastic admir- er of Fontenelle in his Letters (1700-03) and Essays {Miscellanies, 1705-08).
/. 24. — Van Dale (1638-170S), a Dutch philosopher, whose Latin treatise De Oraculis veterum ethnicorum (1683) was abridged by Fontenelle in his Histoire des Oracles.
l. 27. — These works were abridgments of foreign or classi- cal authors, and not pirated abridgments of living English writers. Gildon gives no instance of the lat- ter.
P. 35. — I. 6. — But it was not the only fault of tihe abridg- ment. (See note to p. 34, 1. 2).
/. S. — This clever, but sophistical, argument miist have annoyed De Foe greatly.
I IS- — The chief interest of Cox's abridgment is tliat it shows what, in the book, most interested contempo- rary readers. Cox dropped all moral reflections and briefly summed up Crusoe's early adventures : he gave most space to Crusoe's stay on the island.
I. 28. — Gildon's literary criticism is contained in these words : Rules of Art. Nothing can be beautiful, he thought, if it does not follow the rules derived from the Ancients.
P. 36 — /. 2. — The book, of course, was read to Gildon.
I. 4. — « My imagination worked up to such a height... that I actually supposed myself oftentimes upon the spot at my old castle behind the trees, saw my old Span-
I/O NOTES TO P. (36)
iard, Friday's father, and the- reprobate sailors whom I left upon the island... One time in my sleep I had the villany of the three pirate sailors so lively related to me by the firs.t Spaniard and Friday's father, that it was surprising; tliey told me how they barbarously attempted to murder all the Spaniards, and that they set fire to the provisions they had laid up, on purpose to distress and starve them, things tliat I had never heard of, and that were \et all of them true in faot. »
(P- 5)-
/. ;6. — Though .■somewhat a casuist, Crusoe never tried to explain from what authority he derived his power. He maintained that land belongs to the first occupant, and accepted it as natural that he should be king of his island, and absolute master of the lives of the Span- iards who arrived on the island after his departure.
/. 21. — Madam as used here i.ii a contemptuous sense, like Monsieur, on p. 11. — Trought the Beggar's Opera Gay used the word with this depreciatory meaning : isee for exemple Lucy's song in Act IT, sc. 3 : « Why, how now. Madam Flirt », etc.
/. 22. — M3' wife... told me very seriously one night, that she believed there was some secret powerful impulse of Providence upon me, which had determined me to go thitl'cr again. » (p. 6).
P. 37. — L. 2. — rurtlier Adv. p. 7. — We have seen already what ludicrous use Gildon made of this awkward sen- tence (p. XVIII). De Foe seems to mean that we have premonitions (« secret hints ») of events which come to pass later, even though we have not communicated these premonitions to any one who could be i.nstru- meiLtal iiu the fulfilmeat of them. This shows that the secret hints are sent from an invisible superna- tural world, — and from the existence of a superna- tural world De Foe infers a future state.
I. JO. — « My ancient good friend tilie widow... earnestly struggled with me to consider my years, my easy cir- cumstances, and the needless hazard of a long voyage, and, above all, my young children ; but it was all to no purpose; I had an irresistible desire to the voyage; and I told her I thought there was something so un-
NOTES TO P. I 37) i;i
common in the impressious i ind 'Upon my mind for the voyage, that it would be a kind of resisting Prov- idence iif I should iSittempt to sta}- at heme ». (p. 8). — Cr.iisoe's departu.re looks like a novelist '« trick and gives a poor idea of the cxrcupatioms of Provi- dence.
I- 13- — En passant was then a fashionable expression. De Foe did not use it in the homely style of Robinson Crusoe, bx:t in the more elaborate s^tyle of Captain Carleton (p. 18).
I. 20. — Ee Fee liked to paimt extreme passions, and there is in all his books a display of sentimentality to please the popular taste : has heroes weep on -all occasions. Tlie description of the violent emodious of the rescued occupies a whole page in Hazlitt's edition : « There were some in tears, some raging and tearing them- selves, as if they had been in the greatest agonies of sorrow ; some stark raving and downright lunatic ; some T-an about the ship stamping with their feet, others wringing their hands ; isome were dancing, several sing- ing, some laughing, more crying; mainy quite dumb, not able to speak a word ; others sick and vomiting, several swooning, and ready to faint ; and a few were crossing themselves and giving (^xod thanks ». But then Crusoe carefully explains : « Perhaps also the oaise may have some addition; to it from the particular circumstance of the nation they belonged to; I mean the French, whose temper is allowed to be more vola- tile, more passionate, and more sprightly, and their spirits more fluid, than of other nations. » (p. 10).
I. 26. — But these people were saved after many long hours of anxiety. During the night their hopes rose and fell, so that the extremity of their joy in being saved at last is quite natural.
P. 38. — /. 3. — « I ammedniately ^ordered that five giin.s. should be fired, one soon after another, that, if possible, we might give notice to them that there was help for them at hand ». (p. 9).
I. 7. — « To direct them as well as I could, I caused lighLs to be hung out in ail the parts of the sHp where we could, and which v^e had lanterns for, and kept firing
172 NOTES TO P. (38)
guns all the night long, letting them know by this that there was a shiip not far off ». (p. 9).
I 13. — On the contrary, it is rational to believe that they were in agonies of terror in the intervals of the guns, and afraid of losing the right direction.
/. 14. — Friday had been abnormally quick in learning Eng- lish ; but, like uneducated i>eople in a foreign coun- try, once he had arrived at the stage of making him- self understood, he never got rid, or even sought to get rid, of his grammatical mistakes. When he saw the islaiud again, he exclaimed : « Me see ! me see ! yes, yes, me see much man there, and there, and there ». (p. II).
/. 24. — Gildon is right. — De Foe could draw only one character ; a Puritan Englishman of the middle class. The Spaniard and Crusoe are brothers : so are the French Priest and the Spaniard. Thus, on p. 20, in the Spaniard's relation of the chief events on the island after Crusoe's departure, we find this passage : « It happened one niight that the Spaniard governor... fouTid himself very uneasy in the night, aind could by no means get an}' sleep : he was perfectly well in body, as he told me the story, only found his thoughts tumultuous ; his mind ran upon men lighting, and killing one another, but was broad awake and could not by any means get any sleep. In short, he lay a great while, but growing more and more uneasy, he resolved to rise ». Then he roused one of his comrades who said : « Such thiirgs are not to be slighted », and added, as C'^usoe wrulcj have done : « I am satisfied our spirits embodied have converse with, and receive intel- ligence from, the spirits unembodied, and inhabiting the invisible world ; and this friendly notice is given for our advantage, if we know how to make use of it i>. — Of course, the « secret hint » was right : there was a whole army of cannibals on the island. (Cp. the notes to pp. VI and 25).
P. 39. — I. 2. — As Gildon maintains, the character of the Spaniard is full of inconsLstencies and improbabilities. De Foe, always writing in haste, very probably forgot which of his heroes was speaking at the time.
NOTES TO P. (39) ' 173
I g. — In the first vol., p. 95 : the Spaniard quotes Exodus XVI, 2-3. « i'ou l:now the cliiildreu' of Israel, though they rejoiced at first of tlu-h i>eing delivered out of Egypt, yet rebelled even against (lod himself, that delivered them when the}^ came to want bread in the wilderness ». — In the Further Adventures he quotes the Scriptures frequently (pp. 16, 27, etc.). It pleased De Foe's paradoxical mind to shock the prejudices of his readers. Here he represents a good Spaniard (« the most gentlemanlike generous-minded man that ever I met with in my life ») — a phenomenon which must have astonished many of his readers who had so often heard of the cruelty of the Spaniards in the West Indies.
I. 13. — In the Night. — We may suppose they were delayed by contrary currents. Besides, we are not told that they came for their barbarous feast (p. 20) : they might have come to attack the inhabitants of the island, of whose presence they had heard.
I. ig. — This tedious conversation between the two men extends over 4 pages (40-43). It must have surprised De Foe's readers to find a Popish priest so familiar with the Bible. As for De Foe's representation of him as a broad-minded man, see note to p. VIII [L 30). I. 26. — « You have here 4 Englishmen, who have fetched women from among the savages, and have taken them as their wives, and have had many children by them all, and yet are not married to them after any stated legal manner, as the laws of God and man require, and, therefore, are yet, in the sense of both, no less than adulterers, and living in adultery » (p. 41). De Foe must have been greatly mortified by this piece of criti- cism, las he hated to be rcjjroached with « writing false English ».
p. ^o. — /. iS. — « Now, sir, — SAid he, — though I do not acknowledge your religion, or you mine, yet we should be all glad to see the devil's servants, and the subjects of his kingdom, taught to know the general principles of the Christian religion ; that they might at least hear of God, and of a Redeemer, and of the resurrection, and of a future state, things we all believe; they had at
174 NOTES TO P. ,'40)
least been so much nearer coming into the bosom of the true church, than they are now in the public pro- fession of idolatry and devil worship » (p. 42). — Cp. • « It lis a maxim, sir, that is, or ought to be, received among all Christians, of what church or pretended church soever, viz., that Cl-ristiaai knowledge ought to be propagated by all po-sible means, and on all passible occasions. It is on this principle that our church sends missionaries into Persia, India and China ; and that our clergy, even of the superior sort, willing- ly engage in the most hazardous voyages, ajid the most dangerous residence, among murderers and bar- barians, to teach them the knowledge of the true God, and to bring them over to embrace tlie Christian faith ■ (p. 42). L 20. — Complements is of course a misprint for compli- ments.
/. 25. — GildoH's criticism must have been made already by many a good Protestant. But it was for the amazement of his readers that De Foe introduced into his tale that wonder of wonders, a tolerant Popish priest. — He care- fully pointed out that this priest was a very rare excep- tion : Crusoe cunningly told the priest (p. 46) : « I can- not tell how to object the Ipast thi.ng against that af- fectionate concern which you shew for turning the poor people from their Paganism to the Cliristian reli- gion; but how does this comfort you, while these people are, in your account, out of the pale of the Catholic Church, without which, you believe, there is no salvation ; so that you esteem tliese but heretics still, and, for other reasons, as effectually lost as the pagans themselves ? » — To which this Phoenix of priests answered « with abundance of candour and Christian Charity » (p. 47) : « I am a Catholic of the Roman Church and a priest of the order of St. Bene- dict... but yet, I do not look upon you, who call your- selves reformed, without some charity; I dare not say, though I know it is our oi>inion in general, yet I dare not say that you cannot be saved ; I will by no meatis limit the mercy of Christ so far as to think that he cannot receive you into the bosom of his church... you will allow it to consist with me, as a Roman, to dis-
NOTES TO P. (40) 175
tinguish far between a Protestant and a Pagan , be- tween him that calls on Jesus Christ, though in a way which I do not think is according to the true faith, and a savage, a barbarian, that knows no God, no
Christ, no Redeemer at all I would rejoice if all
the savages in America were brought, like this poor woniain, to pray to God, though they were to be all Protestants at first, rather than they should contiimue pagans and heathens ». — Crusoe replied that « he believed, had all the members of his church the like moderation, they would soon ibe all Protestants ». His final words are : « I thought he [the priest] had all the zeal, all the knowledge, all the sincerity of a Christian, without the errors of a Roman Catholic ; and that I took him to be such a clergyman as the Roman bishops were, before the church of Rome assiumed spir- itual sovereignty over the consciences of men » (p. 50).
I'. 41. — I. 6. — The rapidity of Atkins's conversion is truly amazing (pp. 44-5). His long dialogue with Crusoe is highly improbable. /. 75. — Atkins's wife is abaiiormally quick in graspiug abstruse theological ideas. The episode of her baptiism is full of humour, but this must have passed unnoticed by « vulgar readers », whose sentimentality would have been deeply moved by the touching conversion.
L 76. — Jack of all trades is the expression used by De Foe on p. 51. He describes this ingenious fellow in the following words : « I carried two carpenters, a smith, and a very handy ingenious fellow, who was a cooper by trade, but was also a general mechanic, for he was dexterous at making wheels and hand-mills to grifud corn, was a good turner, and q good pot-maker ; he also made anything that was proper to be made of earth or of wood ; in a word we called him our Jack of all trades » (p. 8).
]. ig. — This is curious : Crusoe who had been at pains to iusti-uct Friday in the Protestant religion forgets to have him baptized on his return to England; at least he does not tell us anything of it in the novel.
176 NOTES TO P. (42)
P. 4::. — I. s- — i- c. p. 42 iu Hazlitt's cd. See note to p. 40, 1. 25.
I- 21. — (lildon is unfair; the priest is described as a happ}' exception. De Foe hated Popery, and Crusoe often maintains that English Protestantism is by far the best form of rclig'ioii (sec rote to j-i. VIII). Gi.ldon, a deserter from Roman Catholicism, was more violent against Popery -than De Foe who had always been a Dissenter.
P .43. — I. 6. — There were bishops among Catholic missio- naries as well as Jesuits of high rank. It is true, though, that missionaries belonged generally to the regular clerg}'. I. g. — Gildon does not remember that the priest is respon- sible for the statement on the preceding page. Crusoe himself judged very severel}'- the work of Popish mis- sionaries : « [we became] acquainted with three mis- sionary Romish priests who were in the town, and who had been there some time converting the people to Christianity; but we thought they had made but poor work of it, and made them but sorry Christians when they had done... I mnst confess the conversion, as they call it, of the Chinese to Cliristilan/ity i,s so far from the true conversion required to bring heathen people to the faith of Christ, that it seems to amount to little more than letting them know the name of Christ, say some .pra^-ers to the Virgin Mary and her son in a tongue which they understand not, and to cross them- selves, and the like » (pp. 75-6). — De Foe admired the zeal and piet}^ of some missionaries, but scorned their doctrine.
I. II. — Gildon's criticism made an impression on De Foe : in the 4 th chapter of the Serious Reflections, he charged the Inquisition v/i'^^h condemning men whose riches were coveted by the clergy ; « Inquisitors are scarce Christians ». he concluded (p. 44).
/. 75. -- The Dominicans, who were the Jesuits* worst enemies, had denounced the trading of the latter and their over-supple principles in China before the Congregation De Propaganda Fide (for the propagation of faith), which had been established by Pope Gregory
NOTES TO P. (43) 177
XV, in 1622. — In the Serious Reflections (p. 84), De Foe parodied the title of this congregation by applying it to the Devil's agents on the earth.
I. 20. — The Jesuit Ricci (1552-1610), founder of the Jesuit mission in China, had resolved to accommodate Chris- tianity to the creeds and customs of the Chinese. After him, the Jesuits scrupulously respected all Chinese rites that were not too contrary to Christian morals, and laid aside all Catholic ceremonies that might have hurt Chinese prejudice; they admitted for instance the worship of Confucius and the cult of Ancestors. These facts were denounced by the Dominicans and condemned as early as 1645. But the Jesuits were so powerful that, though several times condemned, they continued their policy till 1742. Pope Clement XI 's Bull in 1715, ordering the suppression of all Chinese ceremonies and denouncing the conduct of the Jesuits, was hailed with contemptuous joy in Protestant England. In the Serious Reflections, De Foe, again taking the hint from Gil- don's work, condemned the Jesuits « who sung anthems to the immortal Idols of Tonquin » (p. 44).
/. 24. — In the Serious Reflections, De Foe, a severe judge of China and the Chinese, speaks thus of the great phi- losopher : « As to their religion, it is all summed up in Confucius's Maxims, whose theology I take to be a rhapsody of moral conclusions; a foundation, or what we may call elements of polity, morality and superstition, huddled together in a rhapsody of words, without consistency, and, indeed, with very little rea- soning in it » (p. 40).
I. 2g. — De Foe was no promoter of Popery, but he was not siich a fanatic as to condemn systematically all Pa- pists. As the priest in Robinson Crusoe preferred Prot- estantism to Paganism, De Foe preferred Popery to Paganism. In the Serious Reflections, he wrote : « I hope none will object against calling the Roman Church a Christian Church, and the professors of the Popish Church Christians » (p. 66).
P. 44. — I. 4. — Speaking of the Tartars, Crusoe says : « 1 wondered how the Chinese empire could be conquered by such contemptible fellows ; for they are a mere herd
\ ;8 NOTES TO P. (44)
or crowd of wild fellows, keeping no order, and under- standiing no discipline or mai}ner of light » (p. 82). — He is unable to find words strong enough for his imdig- nation. at the sight of the barbarous Tartar idol, « frightful as the Devil », at Nartschinsky ; with a Crusader's zeal he destroys it and gets into endless trouble (pp. S6-90). /. 6. — i. e. Samoycdes. J. 28. — « But, sir, the essence of the sacrament of matri- mony (so he called it, being a Roman) consists not only in the mutual consent of the parties to take one another as man and wife, but in the formal and legal obligation that there is in the contract, to compel the man and woman at all times, to own and acknowledge each other ; obliging the man to abstain from all other women, to engage in no other contract while these subsist, and on all occasions, as ability allows, to pro- vide honestly for them and their chdltlren ; and to oblige the women to the same or like conditions, mu- tatis mutandis, on their side » (p. 41). — Gildon would probably have been at a loss to explain what he found specially Popish in this passage.
1'. 45 — I. s- — « For my Spaniards, according to my promise, I engaged three Portugal women to go ; and recommend- ed it to them to marry them and use them kindly. I could have procured more women, but I remembered that the poor persecuted man had two daughters, and there were but five of the Spaniards that wanted ; the rest had wives of their own, though in another coun- try. — AjU this cargo arrived safe, and as you may easily suppose, very welcome to my old inhabitants, who were now (with this addition) between 60 and 70 people, besides little children, of which there were a great many » (p. 57). — A curious oversight for a Pu- ritan ! /. 8. — The episode is quite useless for the story, but, being full of grim and terrible details, it mtist have been very « entertaining for the canaille ».
I. 14. — « Let no wise man flatter himself with the strength of his own judgment, as if he was able to choose any particular station of life for himself. Man. is a short-
NOTES TO P. (45) 179
■siglited creature, sees but a very little way before liim ; and as his passions are none of his best friends, so his particular affections are generally his worst counsel- lors » (p. 58). — De Foe siin,ply states here that no man knows the future, and in the following sentence — whieli Gildon overlooked — he draws a moral con- clusion from this : « But the secret ends of Divine Providence in thus permitting us to be hurried down the stream of our own desires, are only to be understood of those who can listen to the voice of Providence, anid ditiaw religious consequences from God's justice and their own mistakes ». I 24. — i. e. p. 79 ill Hazlitt's ed. — Gdldon is right : there is a contradiction in the text.
I. 26. — « His horse was a poor, lean, starved, hobbling creature, such as in England might sell for about 30 or 40 shillings ; and he had two slaves followed him on foot to drive the poor creature along » (p. 79).
P. 46. — I. II. ■ — This is another instance of De Foe's love for paradox. It was fashionable at the time to exalt the Chinese Fmpire. De Foe contends that it is inferior to the English. His arguments are poor : « 30.000 Ger- man or English foot or 10.000 French horse would fairly beat all the forces of China... There is not a for- tified town in China could hold out one month against the batteries and attacks of an European army, b — He calls the Chinese » a contemptible herd and crowd of ignonant, sordid slaves ». (p. 78). — De Foe took his theories about China from the Relation de M. Evert Isbrants, envoye de S. M. Czarienne a I'Empe- reur de la Chine en i6g2, 1693 et i6g4 par le Sr Ada^n Brand (Amsterdam 1699).
I i-j. — Sir William Temple adopted Father Le Comte's favourable opinion of China. — In the Serious Reflec- tioiis (pp. 40-42), De Foe, who had probably been an- noyed by Gildon's criticis.n, renewed his attack on Chinese greatness.
l. 26. — Though not so ridiculous as the episode of the bear in the first vol., this burning of the Idol seems to indicate that De Foe was again hard pressed to find
l80 NOTES TO P. (46)
a new incident to fill a certain nombcr of pages (pp. 86-S9). /. JO. — « A cunni-ng fellow, a Cossack, as they call them, of Jarawena, in the pay of the Moscovites, calling to the leader of the caravan, said to him : I will send all these people away to Sibeilka. This was a city 4 or 5 days' journey at least to the south, and rather behind us » (p. 89).
r. 47. — I. 6. — How angry Gildon must have been, when the Publisher's Introduction to the Serious Reflections was read to him : « If the foundation has beeii so well laid, the structure cannot but be expected to bear a proportion; and while the parable has been so divert- ing, the moral must certainly be equally agreeable ».
/. 14. — 0 One recognizes Hercules by the foot, and a lion by the claw ». A Greek proverb made popular by Erasmus in his Adagia (I, 9).
/. iS. — This theory would tend to the suppression of all didactic tales.
/. 2^. — De Foe would be m sympathy with Gildon, here. In the Serious Reflections (p. 10) he ridiculed the story of St. Hilary.
P. 48. — I. I. — De Foe must have been very astonished and not a little troubled to fiiiid .himself accused, of promot- ing atheism ; and this probably explains why he in- troduced in the Serious Reflections a long dialogue against atheists, or « men -devils ».
INDEX TO GILDON'S LIFE
Addieon, 27, 34, 36, 4°. Aitken, 25. AnacreoD, 12. Andensoxn (Rev.), 28. Anne (Queen), 22, 29. A-pology for poetry, 11. Aristotle, 42. Athenian Society, 7, 8.
B
Beaumont and Fletcher, 17.
Behn (Mrs), 7, 11, 15.
Betterton, 17, 19.
Bickerstaff (Isaac), 27.
Bickley, 44.
Blount (Charles), 9, lo, 11.
Boileau, 39, 42.
Borrett, 24.
Boyer, 45.
Boyle (Lord), 12.
Bracegirdle (Mrs), 19.
Brightland, 27.
Briscoe (Sam.), 13.
Brown (Tom), 13, 43-
Buckinghamshire (Duchess of),
40, 42. Buckinghamshire (Duke of), 13,
40.
C
Camma^ reine de Galatie, 16. Canons J 39.
Carnarvon (Earl of), 39, 45-
Cases in Latin, 27, 35.
Chandos (Duke of), 39, 45-
Charlaimne, 39.
Charles II, 18.
Chorus Poetarunij 11, 21.
Cibber, 7.
Clarke (S.), 10.
Clowns ( io Shakespeare ' s
plays), 14 Codrington, 15. Collier, 16, Coin-parison between the 2
Stages {a), 19. Complete Art of Poetry {the),
38- Congreve, 1 1 . Comeille (Thomas), 16. Courthope, 34. Crawford (David), 12. Creech, 15. Curll, 30, 32.
D
D'Avenant, 17.
De Foe, 7, 20, 21, 25, 27, 28,
30. 32> 39, 46. Deist's Manual {the), 22. Dennis (John), 11, 15, 16, 18,
32, 33' 36, 37, 45- Desdemona, i4- Dorset (Earl of), 13. Dryden, 13, 14, 19^ 39-
— IS2 —
Dunciad {the), 30, ^^2, 37. Dunton, 7, 8. D'Urfey, 12, 13.
Epistle to Arbuthnot, 34, 36.
Euripides, 16.
Euiden, 37.
Examen Miscellanetnn, 12, 13.
Farquhar (George), i8. Fouquet, 30.
Genest, 15, 16, 17, 18.
George I, 26, 39.
GiLDON : his ancestors 5 ; his father 5 ; his birth 5 ; sent to Douai 6 ; back again in Eng- land 6 ; his marriage 7 ; he frequents Mrs Behn 7 ; mem- ber of the Athenian Society 7 ; he abjures Poper)^ 8 ; be- comes a deist 9 ; his first lit- erary works 9 ; he writes the Oracles of Reason 10; his relations with D'Urfey 12; his defence of Shake- speare 14 ; he begins play- writing 15; dedicates a play to the Queen 18; becomes a friend of popular actors 19; is attacked by De Foe 20 ; abjures deism 21 ; publishes Sir Rowland Gwynne''s let- ters 23 ; is arrested 24 ; his bail taken 24 ; his petition to the Queen 25 ; he is protect-
ed hf Steele 25 ; writes to Harley 27 ; his projects 28 ; he is employed by Curll 30 ; becomes blind 31 ; attacks Pope 31 ; is involved m\ the quarrel between Pope and Addison 34 ; publishes his Coynflete Art of Poetry ^y ; receives money from the Duchess of Buckinghamshire 40; makes a collection for himself 40 ; his correspond- ence with Prior 41 ; his last days 45 ; his death 45 ; and epitaph 46.
Golden Spy {the) 30.
Grammar of the English Tongue, 27.
Green (Matthew), 38.
Gwynne (Sir Rowland), 23.
H
Harley (Edward), 29.
Harley (Lady), 42.
Harley (Robert), 24, 26, 27, 29,
31, 41, 42. Higgons. (Bevil), 19. Hobbes, 9. Hopkins (Ch.), 12. Horace, 42. Howe, 24. Huchon, 14
Jacob (Giles), 43. James II, 8, 19. Jonson (Ben), 19.
K
King (Josiah), 10.
i83 —
LandsdoANTie (Lord), 40. Langbaine, 5, 8, 15, 16, ig. Laws of English Poetry {the),
40. Lee, 14, 16, 18, 42. Leeds (Duke of), 18. Leigh (Thomas), 19. Leland, 8.
Leslie (Ch.), 21, 22. Lewis (Erajsmus), 24. Life of Betterton, ig, 26. Life of Mr Wyckerleyj 32. Lin tot, 12. Lives and Characters of the
English dramatic Poets, ig.
Lloyd, 45-
Lovers Victim, 17, ig.
Lowde, 10.
Lucian, g, 27, 43.
M
Macaulay, g.
MachiavelH, g.
Mainwaring, 25, 26.
Mandeville, 19.
Marlborough (Duchess of), 18.
Marlborough (Duke of), 26.
Marriage.Hater match'' d {the),
12. Measure for measure, 16. Milton, 40-
Miscellaneous letters, 11. Miscellaneous works of Blount
II. Miscellany Poems, ii. Moliere, 20. Montague (Ch.), 16. Montpenisier (Mme de), 30. Moyle (Wfllter), 11. Musgrave's Obituary, 45.
N
New Project for the Regula- tion of the Stage {a), 36. New Rehearsal {the), 31. Nicholls (Wm), 10, 11. Nichol>s, 34, 45- Nuncius I wf emails, g, 12.
O
Oldmixon, 16.
Oracles of Reason {the), 10.
Oroonoko, 7.
Othello, 14.
Otway, 14, i7> 42.
Ovid, 12.
Ovidius Britannicus, 12.
Pallavicino, g.
Patriot {the], 18.
Persiue, 11.
Peterborough (Earl of), 30.
Phaeton, 16.
Pope, 12, 18, 26, 28, 30, 31-36.
Porter (Mrs), ig.
Post-boy robVd of his mail
{the), g. Pretender (the), 22. Prior, 28, 2g, 41, 43, 45- Purcell (Daniel), 17, 18.
Quinault, 16.
Rapin-Thoyras, 23. Richardson (a deist), 10. Robinson Crusoe, 39. Rochester (Earl of), 13. Rogers (a deist), 10.
i84 —
Roman Bride's Re7'cuge {the),
'5- Roscommon (Earl of), 28, 40. Rovve, 30, 32. Rymer, 13, 14.
Sarma (D. S.), 38.
Shiikespearc, 14, 17, 19, 30, 38.
Shakes feariana, 38.
Sherburn, 35.
Sidney (Sir Philip), 38.
Soame, 39.
Sophia (Princess), 23.
Southerne, 7.
Spectator {the) 40.
Spence, 34.
Stanford (Earl of), 23.
Stanhope, 32.
Steele (Richard), 25, 36.
Stephen, 24.
Swift, 27, 28, 30.
Tatler {the), 27.
Tibullu&, 12, Tickell, 34. Tillotison, 8. To land, 9. Turner (Wun), 19. Tutchin, 21.
W
Waller, 20.
War burton, 34.
Ward, 37.
Warwick (Earl of), 34, 35.
Wesley (Samuel), 7.
William III, 19.
Withers, ;3y.
Wycherley, 26, 32, 33.
Y
Yaxly (a deist), 10. Young (Gildon's Schoolmas- ter), 6. Younig (the poet), 20. I Younger Brother {the), 15.
INDEX TO THE PAMPHLET
Abridgments, (34)- Account of Good and Evil : see Robinson Crusoe.
Adultery, (39-40)-
Allegory {Rohmson Crusoe, an)
(X°), (33)- America, (28). Atheists, (IV), (48). Atkins (Will.), (IX), (41)- Attorney, (3), (5), (6).
B
Bear (episode of the), (VII),
(27-28). Bevis of Southampton, (X). Bible. (XVin, (2), (8), (15),
(19), (24), (39), (47)- Bolus, (XVII). Brazil, (VIII), (XI), (13), (i4>,
(22), (28), (45)- Bruin, (VII).
Calais, (27). Cape Verde, (13). Caravan, (XV), (46). Cardan, (26).
China, (IX), (XV), (43), (46). Chinese Mandarin, (45)- Common-sense, (XV). Confucius, (43)-
Contract : see Inconsistencies.
Contradictions : see Incon- sistencies.
Coryat (Tom.) ^-IV).
Crusoe (Madam), (36).
Crusoe (Robinson) ; see Ro- binson Crusoe.
Czar, (XVI).
D
Dario Tiberto, (34)-
Death, (VII).
De Foe : a bad Englishman (XIV), (2-3) ; his life (X-XV) ; his name (XIV); his politi- cal opinions, (IV); his pun- ishment, (XVII); his reli- gious opinions, (XIV-XVI), (2), (36); his vanity, (47)-
De -propaganda Fide, (43).
Devil (in Milton), (VII).
Devil (in the Bible), (VI), (8),
(24). Disobedience (to Parents),
(XVI), (4-5)- Disseaiiters, (IV). Dover, (27). ^ Dreams, (36), (38).
Education : see Robinson Cru- soe.
— i86 —
Endor (Witch of), (XII). Englkh sailore, (VIII), (i8). Errors ; sfr Inconsistenciea
Kables, (2), (35), (47)- p-ear of God, (18-20), (24). Flandens, (XVIII). Fontenelle, (34)- Fox-hunters, (XIV). France, (27). Free-thinker (the), (25). French Priest (the), (IX), (39-
44). Friday : his bad English (IX), (XVI), (38); his aptitude, (IX) -, his country, (28) ; his death, (IX), his swiftness, (VI) ; inconsistencies in his character, (26) ; not baptized,
(41).
5^1? also : Inconsis- tencies. Friday's father, (27).
G
Geneva, (VI). Goat : see Inconsistencies. GotPs Revenge against Mur- der, (X). Grammar (false), (23), (31),
(37), (39)- Greek Church, (XV).
Guarini, (34)-
Guinea, (11), (12), (14), (15).
(21).
Guy of War'iuick (X).
H Hint : see Secret Hint.
History of Oracles, (34). Homer, (IV). Hudibras, (31). Hull, (7), (18), (21).
Idol (Tartar), (XIII), (46). Impulse : see Secret Hint Inconsistencies in Robinson Crusoe : Crusoe's father's in- tentions (5) ; the Master's speech (7-8 ; Crusoe's con- duct on the ehip (8) ; the wickedness of sailors (10) ;. Crusoe's money ("); he travels to Guinea, (12); Xu- r>'"s English, (13); the height of the waves (14); Crusoe's Riblcs, (15) ; he fills his pock- ets, (15-16); his clothes (16); he is not defenceless (16) ; he -iees the wreck (17); he is laugh'd out of his religion (21-22); the goat in the pit (24) ; Crusoe abandons his goats (24) ; he does not make wine (25); the goat in the dark cave (26) ; Friday's salt (26); Friday's escape (26); his readimess in learning (IX); Crusoe's contract in writing, (27) ; the episode of the bear (27-28); Crusoe too old to travel, (28), (37). Inconsistencies in the Fttr- iher Adventures : the Pref- ace, (35); Crusoe's dream (36) ; joy of the French (37- 38); Friday's bad English and death {see Friday); the Spaniard's character (38) ; the
l87 —
French priest's discourse (39), (41), (44); character
(40) and conduct (41); Cru- aoe'o idea-s about baptism
(41) and marriage (45); the maid's discourse upon starv- ing (45) ; the Chinese Man- darin s horse (45) ; De Foe's account of China (46).
Indians (IX), (39), (40), (45). Ink : see contract. Inquisition (the), (XVI), (20). Invisible World, (XVIII).
J
Jack-of-all-trades, (41). Jago (Saint), (39). Janizaries, (XVI). Jesuits, (43). Jonas, (8).
Joy (extravagant), (37-38). Jure Divmo, (XIII). Jiistin {History of), (34).
K Kidderminster, (X).
Laplanders, (44).
Latin quotations, (I), (VII),
(24), (32), (47). Lime-house Hole, (IX). Lime-Kilns, (XI). London, (n), (21), (28), (46). London Prentice {the), {X\
M
Mahometanism, (XV). Mecca, (XVI).
Mercenary writer (De Foe, a),
(xni).
Middle state of life, (5).
Milton, (VII)..
Missionaries (Popish), (41-44)-
Mogul (the Great), (XV).
Monomotopa, (XVI).
Morality (offended by De Foe):
see Robinson Crusoe. Multitheism, (XV). Muscovy, (XVI).
N
Nephew (Crusoe's), (IX). Newington, (V). Nonsense, (23), (36-37). Nutcrackers, (XII), (XIII).
O
Opium, (29). Orinoco (River), (14)-
Paddington, (XIII).
Papists, (IV), (VIII), (13), (26)-
(30), (4o-40> (47)- Patriotism : see Robinson
Crusoe.
Paul (SaiTit), (43)-
Pekin., (46).
Peter (Saint), (43)-
Philistines, (VI).
Pilgrim's Progress (the), (X).
Pliny, (34).
Plutarch, (34)-
Pockets (Crusoe's) : see Incon- sistencies.
Popery, (VIII), (XIV), (XV), (26), (40), (47)-
Portugal, (27).
— i88
Portuguese sailors, (VIII), (i8). Portuguex?e ^hip, (13), (14),
(15), (")• Practice of Piety (the), (X).
Priest in China (the), (IX). Prophancnciss : see Robinson
Crusoe. Prophecy, (8). Protestants, (40-41). Proteus, (III).
Providence, (3), (5), (8), (19). Pyecorner, (X). Pyrenees, (27).
Quakers, (XV).
R
Reflections (Moral), (3031),
(35)-
Religion ; see Robinson Cru- soe.
Robinson Crusoe : an allegoric- al character (X) ; his dress (VI); his education (VII), (X), (6), (18), (21), (23); hifi religion (VIII), (lo-ii), (18), (21-22), (36); justification of his conduct, (5); he goes to sea (7); stays in London (11); goes to Guinea, (12), (21); is captured by Rovere, (12); escapes (13); turns Papist (13); hi shipwrecked (14); ransacks the Ship, (15) ; his accouTt of Good and Evil, (16); complains of the Wick- edness of a Seafaring Life (17), (21); he leaves his in- land, (27); crosses the Pyre- nees, (27) ; travels again (28) ;
has a Dream, (36) ; dis- courses with the French Priest, (39) ; travels ini China (45) ; burns the Tartarian Idol (46). Robinson Crusoe {Life of) : a badly-written book, (i), (23), (30) > (3O, (32); a book for the Canaille (32) ; damigerous for good morals (VII), (XVI), (2), (30); for patriot- ism (3), (9); for religion, (VII), (2), (8-9), (15), (18-19). (24), (26), (29), (33) ; — a Ro- mance (31), (33). Robinson Crusoe {Further Ad- ventures of) : a tedious book (29) ; its absurd Preface (30- 35) ; its falise English (37), (39) ; its defence of Popery, (40), (42), (43); its religion, (36), (38), (47); it> account of China, (46). Rome, (43)-
Royal-Exchange, (XI). Royal Regiment, (XVIII). Rules of Art, (35). Rum, (15).
Sailors (praise of), (10), (18). Saint-Germain, (XIII). Saints (Popish), (26), (43), (47)- Sale (Morocco), (12), (22). Salt ; see Inconsistencies. Samoyedes, (44). Saul,' (XII). Savages, (39). Scotchman, (46). Seafaring life, (VIII), (3), (9). (17-18).
1 89
Secret Hint, (VI). (5), (14), (25),
' {27), i33)-
Shipwreck (Crusoe's), (14).
Siam, (XV).
Sin (Madam), (VU).
Slaves, (14).
Socrates, (25).
Soliloquy (De Foe's), (XVIII).
Sortes Virgilimuie, (24).
Spain, (27).
Spaniard (the), (27), (38), (45)
SfanisJi iiiiotation^ (XIII).
Spanish saiior?, (VIII).
Starving, (45).
Stench, (XV Hi).
Super,stiti.on sec Robins,on
Crusoe.
T
.Tartars, (44), (46). Tartary, (XIII), (46). T . B . a Dealer in many W ords
(XV). Temple (Sir V\'illiam), (34),
(46). Thames St. (XII). Tories. (IV), rXII), (XIII),
(XIV). Tory v.riterh. (XIV). Trade, (5).
Tripos, (XUl).
'i'rogu- i'ompeiu.s, (34).
T nie-born Engtishman {the)^
(XIV). Turki:h Rover, (12). Tuttlr St. (IX).
V
Van Dale, (34). V;uiinus, (25). Virgin, (59), (43).
\V
Vv'avos : iw Inconsistencies.
Vvest-Indies, (20).
Whigs, (IV), (XII), (XIII),
(XIV). Whimsical being (Crusoe, a)
(VIII), (IX), (10), (25). Whimsical beiug (De Foe, a)
(X), (XI), (XV). William (King), (XVIII). Vrine : see Inconsistencies.
X
Xury, (13), (22).
Y
Yarmouth. (7), di), (18)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface * 3
The Life of Charles Gildon 5
I. Gildon's fir^st attempts as a writer 5
II. Gildon't career as a playwright 13
III. Gildon a^ pamphleteer 22
IV. Gildon's quarrel with Pope, and last days.... 31
A Chronological List of Gildonfis works 47
Introduction to Gildons pamphlet 55
The Life and Str.'uige Surprizing Adventures of Mr D...
De F 6
J
The Preface 65
A Dialogue betwixt D... F...e, Robinson Crusoe,
and his Man Friday C7
An Epistle to D... D' F...e Si
Postscript 109
Notefc 1 2Q
Index to Gildons Life 181
Index to the pamphlet 185
PR Gildon, Charles
34.03 Robinson Crusoe exainin'd
Z5G55 and criticis'd
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